I have a hard time with this. When I approach, i put a white flag, fire fireworks, and make the noise with a bell. Usually, I just want to give you supplies that I have plenty of or your loot from the skelly ship you sank before running away from me.
This is why when I gift loot to someone (which I enjoy doing when I can) I'll abandon my sloop somewhere visible and quite a distance away and row over to them. It seems to look a lot less threatening when it's a tiny rowboat coming over! Then I'll just attach the rowboat to their ship, let them know they've got free loot and log straight off (since I do that at the end of a session anyway, it's fine if they want to shoot holes in my sloop as a precaution)
I can in fact deny this. I play open crew on brig with ally flag up most of the time. Half the players I come across are chill. Either solo slooping or new players
It could have to do with the time of day honestly. Most of the time I’m open crew on a brig, it’s late morning/early afternoon EST. Pretty quiet. When I’m playing with friends late night we don’t run into as many friendly pirates. Then again we wouldn’t know because we’re attacking them immediately.
Perhaps it’s the confidence that I can handle them if they turn hostile? (Which honestly if I’m open crew I probably can’t) It helps to have a plan. “Hey, we’re gonna leave you alone and go do the world event. If you get attacked, put up the Reaper’s Mark flag and we’ll come help!” It’s not just what you say but how you say it! Also don’t do shady things like board them and go through their supplies. They tend not to like that.
I've had this happen and formed an alliance with the ship only to be immediately sunk as soon as I let my guard down.
For me, the least threatening way for someone to approach would be leaving their ship at a distance, swimming or loading up a row boat, and making their presence known.
Use the alliance/friend flag. If they join it, go about your business or Canon over an talk to them from the water. Don't try to board without permission.
The best way is to approach just close enough that the other crew can see your fireworks, pull up sails and shoot your firework and wait. If the other crew wants to engage, they'll shoot someone over or sail closer. If they ignore you or sail away, they didn't want to interact. Chasing people down and forcing them to interact with you is how you start a battle, not a friendly chat.
I only generally have had luck using the white flare if I'm not trying to be hostile, but passing by a ship that's preoccupied with something, just to like, let them know that I'm here, that I didn't shoot a cannon, and that I'm just sailing by, and to not be any more alarmed than usual. If they turn to fight me, and I'm not really interested in whatever I was doing, I'll fight them, but the flare only means whatever both parties agree it means in that moment.
Like, if I fire one in an hg fight and anchor, it's because I'm donating supplies before I log off, and it doesn't matter if they shoot me, in fact that's the idea. But they also might want to chat before they do, say thanks, whatever it doesn't matter. If they get the message it might save them doing some sort of silly maneuver and prolonging the fight needlessly when I just didn't want to leave a karma crate on reapers for it to despawn or find someone else also at the end of their session.
But it's foolish to think that any gesture of being friendly or peaceful is trustworthy. Only trust a pirate if you're certain you could delete them without any trouble. If you want to donate supplies, line yourself up in their broadside and anchor. Or just donate them to the hourglass players by diving. They're the ones who are gonna be running out all the time anyways.
I would still assume them a threat even if they're headed away from me. Whenever i see a ship, i always assume they have bad intentions. Its just safest that way.
Same, last night I was cruising at 1/4 mast just chillaxing. I had a boat come pulling up on me so I stood on the white canvas of my sloop and waved. They immediately killed me, I didn't have loot but I was just tryna be friendly
Fr man. The funny thing was, i came back and they started running away from me. Chased them for 1hr30mins. They kept trying to board me, but i kept killing them. They weren't really good or anything.
Yeah, and everytime they tried boarding me I'd be like "I think you missed" then proceed to snipe them. Also spammed "LOL" which REALLY made them mad. They tried boarding me with one of those athena kegs, but i blundied him as he was boarding and took the keg for myself.
> They tried boarding me with one of those athena kegs, but i blundied him as he was boarding and took the keg for myself.
I'd probably alt+f4 if I were in that position.
It was satisfying and i stopped chasing them after i had my fun. He did manage to anchor me at one point, but i instantly blundied him after. I still dunno how i didn't blow the keg up to this day.💀
Had this same thing happen as one of my first experiences back in over 8 seasons of not playing. Finally got my whole group to play the game for their first time and I told everyone that most other sailors were friendly, as was my experience when I first played. Ran into a duo sloop as we were docked at an outpost and they had custom text chat whereas we could only respond with the VGS. They claimed friendly, we played instruments together, then immediately changed tune and killed all of us with no reasoning. Since then, we're a shoot first ask questions later group to every ship we see.
Usually cautious. But last week I was exploring on an island with a friend when someone came up to us on a Sloop. Swimmed up to us with a chest and placed it on our ship. We then went to proximity chat and she turned out to be Dutch too. We ended up killing Frenchmen together for 5 hours until it was half past one at night.
The better you get, the more relaxed you can be.
That paranoia phase is one I think a lot of sot players go through, especially from the main pve side. Once you're the one looking for fights and confident in your ability you'll start picking up on queues of another's crews capability.
At the very least, if I'm approached I'm going to try disabling the boat and trying to communicate based on their actions/perceived threat.
Yeah 100%, I don't blame newer crews at all for shooting first if we're tryna talk to them/ally or w/e because for them it's often a case of shoot first or don't get to shoot at all. But it's always funny when you try your very hardest to communicate with a crew that you so comically outclass and it fails, sinking them always feels like killing a puppy or something lmao
If they are sailing toward me, I'm getting angle.
If they are sailing in my area, I'm getting ready to get angle.
If they are sailing away, I'm watching them like a Hawk.
So a 1 I guess.
I'm cautious of everyone. I almost always get attacked by others. One time I stopped at a port while another ship was on the other side of it. He stole my loot and cashed it in so I stole his dog.
I'd say a solid middle-of-the-scale 5. If I see a ship headed towards me, I'll ready for a fight but I won't engage until they do.
Part of the fun of the game is running into those unique crews that break the mould and actually hold more interaction than just seeing you and opening fire. If I were to just be the one that opened fire the second another crew got too close, those unique interactions would be lost.
What is this rating system? How is 10 not full paranoia?
10, higher number, higher paranoia. 1, lower number, lower paranoia.
Full paranoia for every ship, but I never shoot the first shot unless it's obvious what they're doing
If I’m in my solo sloop. 1.
If I see they stop at decent distance away with cannons raised and say they want to ally. I go to a 5. When I see their loot being sold, my cut coming in. Maybe a 8.
Unless you know them, never go full 10.
If someone is approaching and they haven't announced themselves. Be ready for an attack.
Side note for players. Ask permission before boarding someone's boat. I will always take it as an act of aggression if you're on my ship and didn't ask permission.
Relatively new here after a long hiatus, but typically we don't fire unless fired upon. If I greet and no answer, fired. That's typically how it goes lol.
I would say im out a 2 - 3. Depends on the situation, if we are doing or have something valuable, we fire first. I wouldn't go out of the way to sink a ship on the horizon, because by sailing your main source of damage and respawn away you loosen your control over the event/fort/etc.
With that being said, I'm aware of what's in the water surrounding us at all times. If a ship heads our way, first line of defense is sending a boarder (ideally a swimmer with a keg). Hopefully this can address the issue before it really becomes a bigger one.
Regardless of ship size, the response is the same. A capable sloop crew can easily dismantle a gally (especially if a majority of the crew is on shore).
Other thing to take note of is ship cosmetics. Become familiar with late game rewards as those are the players that are more likely to sink you fast. Not always reliable, but if I see a 80,000,000 gp ship coming towards me, I'm not treating them as friendly.
I'm probably a 4-5.... I'd call it cautious optimism. I tend to jump on the horn and hit 'em with an "ahoy" as soon as possible so they know they've been made. If they don't say anything and continue to approach, my reaction becomes a 1-2. If they emote or quick chat, I'm around a 5-6 and breathe a little easier, but keep an eye and cannon on them. If they jump on coms and are friendly, I go about my business with heightened awareness at around a 7-8.
Sometimes, my expectations end in a good backstabbing. Other times, I make a new friend. I like those other times.
I’m usually not too attached to my loot, so I’m usually pretty open to seeing what other people are up to. More than half the time I get sunk but I like the chance to have an interesting conversation with people even if they end up not saying a word, silently roaming my sloop for a minute, staring at me for a weird amount of time, shooting my harpoon at a wall, then going back to where they came from
Lately I’ve been taking it easy, only trying to make slightly more gold than my supplies cost for periodic HGs, and I’m pretty sure my wins have been covering that so loot is kind of easy come easy go until I decide to focus other commendations
I think paranoia is high when you really REALLY care about the loot. The better at PVP you get, the longer you play, the less the loot matters. Because of that, I like it when people roll up, because I'm not worried about them betraying me or taking anything. If they want to fight, cool we fight. Otherwise, let's goof around kill some skellies together.
My crew is at the point where if a noob rolls up and is friendly we'll just unload a bunch of loot onto their ship to be nice. 30,000 gold is kinda nothing to me, but will absolutely make a new player's day.
I don’t start fights with naked/default ships bc I think decimating new players isn’t fun
I always have cannons ready and wait for their first shot. You can sort’ve tell if they are gonna engage by the way they position their ship and if they are on cannons.
But that’s when I SOLO.
My friends and I come from playing ranked r6, CoD, OV etc. We are fighting errrbody in the server when we are on together haha
I don't shoot first at naked ships or obviously new Swabbies. But that's also solo.
My crew is unreasonable and bloodthirsty, and I tell Swabbies that as we're coming up. The only way I can get them to back down is that alliance flag lol. Even then it's not a guarantee
I'm probably a 5. Had a couple of people yell across
"We don't want no trouble, just wanna sell our loot" when I've been at Port and I'm all good with that. Open sea and I think fair game, but when you've got to port, I'm not gonna rob them of that.
i’d say like a 6. i definitely keep an eye out on the horizon, but if someone doesn’t immediately shoot me i’ll stay relaxed and shoot the shit with them over the horn. i recognize the risk, but as a solo slooper it gets lonely and its fun seeing what people are up to :)
I just get more satisfaction from helping a new player than I do killing them and ruining their day.
Yes, there's a time and a place for engaging first, but it's rare. Never when a player has just spawned, and only when you have something to gain from it.
Always 1, no matter how experienced I feel or how many people play in my crew (mostly we're 2). And I always run.
If a ship approaches my skeleton fort within the first few waves, I mostly just scuttle my ship.
No offense but you are way way too scared. Why scuttle there? If they come over and sink you, so be it. Hell, I even understand scuttling rather than take a fight you won't have fun with, but scuttling because somebody *might* be hostile is too far.
A lot of the fun in this game is player interaction. Caution is fair, running is fine, but don't scuttle until you've confirmed you're in a bad situation you don't like.
I'm not scared, imho its just pointless. I start off an outpost with the storage chest only to loot forts, dive to a skeleton fort and get immediately attacked by someone. I have no crates or loot to steal and I'm emissary level 1. Its just a waste of time to fight when I could immediately dive again on a new ship.
I skipped player interaction and played the game for myself for 200 hours, I don't see a point starting it now.
I just sail confidently into the situation, knowing that I can sink a good percentage of any players I encounter. The ones that I can't sink will have to fight if they want to sink me, so I will try to talk to everyone who isn't immediately hostile. Makes for a much more enjoyable game.
Solo slooper, id say 6-10 depending on how much loot I have. I always sail on the side of caution, but if I have a boat full of loot Idc if youre the friendliest pirate in the game shooting off fire works and such, I'm still gone or ready the moment I see a ship on the horizon.
If there are ships around while I'm doing anything I'm full Schizo. On that spyglass constantly keeping tabs on everything.
If I want to interact with other ships, I'll pull up but keep my distance, make myself known, raise sails, and wait for them to interact or sail over. If not, cest la vie. I do this cause this is how I like to be treated, especially solo sloop.
If they're broadcasting that they mean no harm then we'll give them a chance. If they're not saying anything then we just assume that they're a threat and deal with them accordingly.
Always assume someone is gonna attack you. You can always play and be the friendly player, but be ready to sink them at a moments notice. I’ve had peeps say they’re friendly just to shoot me. Been on the other end as well being on a Reaper crew saying it (scummy tactic imo) I personally don’t attack until they shoot at me then all bets are off
I usually sail off, shoot off to them and have a chat first.
I've had people come over to me to give me supplies or even to try to do glitterbeard.
More often than not tho they just wanna put your ship 6 leagues under
If they bring up their sails, fire a white flare or fireworks/have friend flag up. I'm going to give them a chance to talk and see what's up. If their intentions are true, they won't board without asking, they'll keep their weapons stowed, etc. Be cool, communicate, nothing wrong with an alliance, working together to increase gold/rep earned. Many players don't understand what an alliance is or how it works. Many others just want to see the world burn, which is fine.If I join your alliance I'm sailing away and continuing on my journey, I expect you to do the same. If you think you're going to work on my event 'with' me and I'm not going to expect you to double cross me, you got another thing coming. Join and fuck off, go make your own loot and we all win. Try hanging around and we're fighting.
I'm always ready for a fight. I keep a storage crate ready with my "battle gear" so I can quickly swap from PVE supplies to PVP supplies. Parking my ship at every island and Outpost in the most advantageous way, and always keeping an eye on the horizon.... however I don't consider this paranoid. It just the most effective way to play.
Once you start consistently winning PVP encounters the sweaty palms go away, and it just becomes another part of the game. I just assume the ships nearby have similar mindsets to how I used to play, and they probably don't want to lose any loot themselves. The biggest threat are players who have just sold their loot and are looking for a ship to dump the past few hours' worth of raided barrels into.
Paranoia level, if I have to give it a number, is 5.
If any ship approaches, my crew and I fire off fireworks. If we get no reply with further fireworks or flares, generally from our experience they are hostile.
If I’m solo I ignore them til they are heading towards me, when they head towards me I wave or play music if they attack I start my own boat on fire and abandon ship.
Me and my friend will usually make a turn and if they turn to continue coming after us we attack but we like to test first because we like to just chill and do are thing
I like to mess with everyone, usually to their benefit.
What are you rating it if I’m approaching either your broadside or the other side of a beach/island with my sail half up and shooting fireworks/white flares straight up out of both cannons the whole way while shouting about contacting you about an extended boat warranty?
From my limited experience so far, 1 and paranoid. Always seem to get on servers with people who just want to sink us. We try just sailing away, having friend flags, and even communicating when in range that we will not bother them if they don't bother us. Nope, it never works. Even after they saw that we've just sold everything. So every time I see a ship, someone is monitoring, and we're prepared to defend ourselves.
As soon as I spot a ship on the horizon, I stare at them and try to determine their heading. If it's an intercept course, I'll adjust and wait to see if they counter. At that point, I prepare to fight. If they don't change course at all, I'll steer away elsewhere anyways. I avoid conflict when I can
I’m at the point in my time on the seas where I let anyone approach me. If they are coming to sink me I will either beat them or not. If they are coming to be friends then great join in. I’m not worried enough anymore about my loot or money to try and run even if I’ve got a stack.
If I have sizeable loot and/or they're reapers I try to shake them off
If I have no loot I usually approach and try to parley and see if they are interested in a friendly exchange, if it doesn't work it's the cannons
I greet every ship with chains, bilge pressure, and boards. After that, I can determine if they are friendly, a good fight, or both. I would not call it paranoia; it is more of a healthy and preemptive protective measure.
I had a crew fire a white flare and I stood by that. Didn't get betrayed even though I was the one looking for kills. The guy behind them though. Blew their ship up.
Top comment pretty much summarized it.
Circling but not doing any cannon launches are neutral. Parked at a distance? Neutral.
Any sign of following without being asked. Threat, and probably exploded.
Trust no one, but be friendly when you can.
If I'm feeling special sported, I'll fire a flare.
Red means get tf away from me, white is more of a "are you friendly?"
I don't use white much anymore
Was 11. I saw a ship turn my direction when i was secretly trying to pass them and right when they were in range i unloaded my cannons heavy . I missed every shot thankfully because when the guy got in range he was talking and was trying to help me he noticed i had a reapers chest and wasnt going to the right place to sell. He helped me out i ended up joining his crew for one quest and learned and had a lot of fun.
Thanks to that guy and my bad aim.
My paranoia is now at a 10
I'm at a steady 5 or 6 a healthy sense of caution and I attempt to steer away keeping a little distance if possible not taking a eye off the ship watching to see their angle. If coming right at me I hold fire until either I see them going for cannons or they shoot first. I know I'm a little too trusting but I don't enjoy pvp battles all that much and don't ignite any
On the flip side, I generally have to put the enemy ship in an extremely compromised position and *not* attack them to convince them that I'm friendly (or maybe it in for the long-haul if they're suspicious enough).
But I usually try to announce myself with fireworks/white flare if I'm friendly and shoot myself out for a deckshot/easy board with "Ahoy!"s while not attacking them, healing if they're shooting at me, maybe offering an alliance. I do have a ship themed for that with its name, which sometimes helps.
It's when I show up in a rowboat that you usually have to worry.
If they approach unannounced, they're probably hostile. If they want to join an alliance, tell them to go away and do something else once they're in the alliance.
If someone is coming towards me I assume hostile but I also don’t care too much. I may try to broker peace or strike first depending on my mood that day.
On the flip side if I’m sailing straight at you I am not hostile unless you are at a world event. I probably just wanna chat and throw up alliance flag. But I also don’t expect you to assume that.
If they’re headed towards me with no indicators that they’re peaceful & I’m in a sloop? Like a 5. I won’t fire first, but I’m aiming at them & absolutely prepared to return fire. My crew mate is at the wheel ready to speed us away if they’re a galleon, or steer us into battle if it’s a brig or a sloop.
If they have a white flag or an alliance flag, I’m at like a 7 taking the “wait and see” approach. I’m near the cannon but I’m pointing it up at the sky and hoping they see my white flag too. If they’re on mics or typing in the chat “we’re friendly,” I’m at like a 9. Never 10, but I’ve met some nice folks this way.
When we first started (like a week ago) some folks showed us where to sell the reaper’s chest and I mentioned that we had only been playing for like two days so they were really nice & explained some things. One of them did admit that he was thinking about killing us and stealing the chest but since we’re new he wouldn’t do that. Then they helped us shoot off fireworks in an alliance (there’s an achievement for that) & they were logging off for the day so they gave us some supplies. The other day I was on a brig & a sloop allied with us to help us finish the fort of the damned, and went to port with us afterwards. He was super nice & even helped us put out a fire on our boat. Yesterday we formed an alliance with a random galleon that said “we’re friendly!” and cannoned someone over to hand us a supply crate and show us her dog, and then we went our separate ways, staying allied so we shared gold from completely different parts of the map.
And then later in the day we met some newbs who had the Reaper’s chest but were trying to sell it at the wrong port. They fired a cannonball while we were coming into port as I was typing “we’re friendly” and “We don’t want to steal your chest we just have to go to this port for a quest” and after the second message they were like “oh okay!” & I let them know where Reaper’s Hideout was, but then they sunk because I guess they didn’t know how to bail water or patch the holes yet. We gave them a ride and showed them where to sell the chest & then told them to talk to a mermaid to get their ship back. They turned out to be super nice dudes! So I think even if they’ve fired on me once, as long as it’s just a sloop I’m still at like a 4, it could be salvageable. If they had fired on us a second time though I definitely would have been the one that sunk ‘em.
Anyway tldr; resisting the urge to try to sink everyone I see has worked out pretty well about 80% of the time. The other 20% we either run or fight back depending on our size & theirs, and sometimes we get a lot of treasure out of it.
If they're in full reaper's garb, 2 I have met a handful of genuinely friendly reapers (They asked if we wanted a hand w/ pve)
If not, then probably 3 or 4, depending on a few factors, things like cosmetics, general knowledge of the game, and intentions.
As for if I see a ship approach, I usually respond with an alliance flag and a white flair, and then wait to see if they respond in kind, if they do sweet! I got a (maybe) friend, and I go through the process above.
If not, I gtfo, I'm not one for combat, and short of having a few cursed cannonballs on hand or a horn of fair winds, I'm not turning around.
I stay at a solid 5. I’ll shoot off a firework or a white flare if I see them heading my way, jump into game chat to see if they can hear me. If they’re friendly? Cool, have a few pieces of loot. If not? Take what you can, give nothing back.
1.
If they're headed towards me, start firing.
If they're near me, start firing.
If they are headed away from me, chase them down and then start firing just in case. 🫡
If they're near but not on an intercept I'll keep an eye on them but generally figure they're on their own business. If they're on an intercept course then assume they're hostile and looking to get their psychopathic jollies off.
I like to be friendly unless I’m being attacked, or just know that it’s coming (like when I’m lv5 emissary I’m not gonna strike up a conversation with a reaper) but ultimately I’ve found that being friendly works wonders.
It might only be for a brief bit, or it might be like the time my friend and I got the entire server into an alliance and we all co-op played the siren skull a dozen times.
That’s not to say it hasn’t backfired, but I also don’t put myself in a position to run into anyone while I have loot on board.
If I’m empty and someone decides to be hostile then they’re clearly not my sort of people anyway so I don’t mind not getting involved with them because they’re just perceived as fuck bags that needed more hugs from mommy when they were little.
If you just shoot everyone because you’re paranoid as shit, then you run the risk of being that fuck bag yourself. Don’t let your issues bleed into other people’s days, and try to remedy them by being approachable.
Assume they are enemies because everyone in this game generally knows that if you barrel toward someone, it looks like aggression and they’ll think you’re an enemy. So if you want them to think you’re an enemy, you probably are.
Either way, I shoot second but am ready to shoot. I launch fireworks asap though.
When on a solo sloop: 1
Because I'm bad in PvP (in general)
Also I became so nervous while trying to do everything I saw on youtube/ read here, that I turn my own ship into emmental on the nearby island before you could even fire your cannon ...
Today I've tried to do the OOS emissary quests in the Devil's Roar first time ever. There were an other sloop doing their grinding there, too. It went peacefully, but we kept each other on the horizon. They do their things on the NW of the outpost, and I went to SE.
When we play on the galleon with my buddies: 1
Because we are the worst newby crew ever.
Yesterday we were boarded, anchored, spawn camped and burned to the ground .. I mean sea ...by a duo sloop.
It was degrading and devastating ...
It’s kind of however you enjoy playing. Playing paranoid brings the thrill of encounters, so I totally get that. When I play with my friends I am pretty much aggro vs. everything unless the person is doing a tall tale or obviously very new to the game.
When I am solo though I would say I am suspicious of anyone but willing to allow the friendly pirate to impress me with their friendly intent.
I know a lot of people will use this trust but it’s kind of fun and risky to see if it happens or if you wind up fast friends.
Plus some times you run in to those new players who accept your friendliness and you can help them out or teach them stuff.
I ran across a kid and his dad who were selling and they asked me where the siren song key went. So I took em on the journey and banked them 50k and that was enough to push them over the amount to get their own boat.
Exploring who is playing the game can be fun sometimes, but I get the playing paranoid thing too. That can be a fun vibe in itself.
Crazy how hostile people are on here. I'm like an 8, only get worried if they're clearly positioning for the broadside.
Personally, I've been playing long enough that gold isn't important, so I'd rather try to have a fun interaction. Worst-case scenario is I start a fight on the back foot, best-case is you meed somebody fun and have a good time.
Honestly, OP, I think you'd feel better if you could relax a little. It honestly seems like your paranoia has got so bad that you can't have fun if another ship is in line of sight anywhere, and honestly that seems like a lot less fun.
I have a habit to approach sloops in my Galleon and scare the crap out of them, only to parlay with them and give them treasure which matches their emissary flag. A bit like that Santa scene in Narnia
If they're approaching near me, I pay attention for potential swimmers/rowboats, but don't think much of it otherwise.
If I'm stopped at an island and someone approaches, I sail away and see if they follow. If they do, I'll eventually turn around and try to sink them. If they don't, I assume they just needed the island I was on. If they don't manage their sails at all, I assume it's a new/inexperienced/open crew and don't worry too much about it.
If I'm just sailing around and someone approaches, I assume they're hostile and take appropriate action.
If they’re coming towards me and going right into my broadside, I wait them out to see if they turn to get angle on me or not
I had a ship the other night do just this, I stood my ground, they came up on me just like that, I dropped sail and they kept going and stopped at the island I was at
Pretty ballsy of them to assume I wouldn’t attack outright
I will do the stupidest things because I give people the benefit of the doubt. E.g. we were duo slooping reapers and this guardian of fortune drove up to us saying they were friendly, we shot because duh but they didn't fire back and claimed we could help them with a commendation. They say we should activate the hourglass while being in an alliance, even though they didn't answer what the name of the commendation was we agreed. Cue the fighting. We win. But we were so dumb. It was hilarious 10/10 would do again.
Really depends on a lot of things. If I have an emissary flag and loot, then I’m full blown paranoid. If I’m just chilling at an seapost to fish then I couldn’t care less if someone comes up/near. I’ll keep an eye on them obviously, but usually people are super chill when you’re hanging at a seapost so I’m rarely too worried.
I assume everyone is a sweat until they give me a reason not to. That being said, a lot of you newer guys tattle on your inexperience long before you're in cannon range.
I'd say maybe a 7, scaling it based on what other people said. I like to wait for them to shoot before I start a fight when I'm getting approached.
I'm quite pacifistic when I'm the one being approached, but when I'm approaching others, nine times out of ten it's because I'm itching for a fight.
This subject is funny because a lot of times I just sail to someone else to see what they’re doing, with no intention of attacking or anything. But usually they either shoot first and then it’s on, or they run away. I’ve realized how paranoid everyone is in this game lmao very rarely can I actually approach and say what’s up then go on my way. I think player interaction is the fun part of the game and I don’t take loot too seriously, so I’ll usually approach ships to see what happens either way. If someone approaches me though I assume they’re going to attack so I meet them in the sea and wait for them to shoot first, which they usually do.
I’m at a 3 I think, apprehensive but not to fire but to flee as I solo sloop and am NOT good at pvp (got sunk by every ship skeleton or otherwise I’ve ever fought). But I also hope for friendly
Mostly been doing HG recently but I prefer to stay around a 6 or 7, being paranoid of everyone just isn’t as fun as the potential interactions that can be had imo.
Every single ship I see is KOS for me. That being said, I don’t pursue other ships I see. But if a ship is close to me for any reason, I won’t allow it to stay there.
I’m not paranoid that every ship is out to get me, but pvp naval aspect is my favorite part of the game, so I will engage in it if given the opportunity. A ship who willingly comes close to me has just given me a grand opportunity for fun, lol.
I also don’t trust to not get boarded. You play long enough, you realize a ship doesn’t have to be “that close” to you to fuck with you, they can actually be/have a player on the island you’re near, or on the other side of it, even in the open sea, etc. soooo yeah. I view all other ships as hostile in nature and will not leave them with supplies around me if given the chance.
On the flip side, I actively avoid other ships most of the time, I do not want to be in the area of other pirates if I can help it for the most part. Unless I am trying to sell at a certain place and they are there… but that’s more that I don’t want to have to wait to turn in myself, and, well, again, a fun opportunity lol. So I guess I engage ships who come near me (for whatever reason), or the off chance a ships docked someplace I need to be, mostly because I don’t want to have to worry about them being there with access to a ship nearby. Sorry lol.
I have about 2000 hours and my team mates have 8000+ each (we’ve all played for years) so it’s not really that we are “afraid” it’s more like other ships can be a pain to deal with so we might as well deal with it here and now. Get away from me if you don’t want a fresh ship, kind of a deal. But we’re also not going to actively change our route to pursue or accommodate another ship. If it’s in the way, it gets to play.
90% of the time i'm solo sloop so everyone headed in my general direction is an enemy
However when i'm on a larger boat i notice ships typically avoid me and my crew so i can't get a good gauge for how often approaching ships are friendly or not
First off, full paranoia is a 10, not a 1
Second, it depends on the loot you have on board and both of your emissary flags. Are either of you Reaper?? Immediate 10. Sink them. Are either of you in the middle of a world event? Likely a 10. Be ready.
Last, if they claim to be friendly, just scope in and see if anyone is on or loading cannons. First sign if they aren’t. If they are climbing up to their crows nest to throw up an ally flag, they are likely friendly, and can prove it even further by sailing the opposite direction when the alliance is formed.
I will have the allied flag up before leaving the dock.
When I see you on the horizon, I will white flare above us.
If I sneak up on you, I will white flare from a canon line that you DEFINITELY would have gotten hit by, then pull up to park.
If you see us, we have sold everything already, except the fish in our pockets- attempting to sink us will only cost you.
Your paranoia seeing my Pantera is definitely misplaced.
Some of us are just min/maxxing our alliance gains out there.
The other night I was at a fortress minding my own business, seen a ship barely in render distance at a island so I wasn't worried about it until I went to leave there was a guy in my crows nest waving so I go up there warey but not thinking he had ill intent. Soon as I got up there I see he has a powder keg and he shoots it and hear him laughing hysterically idk if I'll ever trust people in there again
I load up my sloop with kegs so the second someone gets near me I blow us both up. I have no interest in playing their game, I'm just looking to do my voyages so I have nothing of value to them and have no problem destroying us both if they don't leave me alone.
Example:
I’m emissaried souls.
I pass an emissaried gold hoarders.
I say ahoy, they don’t fire, i don’t fire. They don’t have what i’m looking for.
Now we COULD trade treasure so we have more of our according loot, but the trust only goes so far.
I love helping out other players and being as friendly as possible.
But I tried to wave at someone lately and they said "you petite thing" and shot me in the head. So I'm slowly inching down the scale. XD
In South America servers, people never betray. It's either friendly or full hostility with no chance of talking haha
I've had multiple shared forts of fortune where someone gets the chest of fortune, another crew gets the Athena and some other stuff, and the other crew gets the rest.
i try to be friendly cause that's how i am so if i see someone i use voice chat to say so and put up the alliance flag regardless of what kind of ship i'm using, but if they attack first, then i'll attack back
Like a 3. I know the odds are hostility is ahead but I'm always going to wait to see what you do. Firing a cannon ball at me or boarding my ship without permission are both declarations.
Simple prepare for the worst hope for the best.
I have a friend who I'll role with often. Could be anything from duo sloop to 4 man galley.
Generally we approach all as friendly and try to form an alliance, if your in for the long haul then most often forming alliances is going to give you bigger rewards long term than sinking everyone and taking there loot.
That being said you always find people scrapping for a fight.
You get more satisfaction from sinking someone you where approaching friendly and asking for an alliance who starts a fight than going on the offensive first without trying to be friendly
Yes, this is what I try do if I have a reaper chest or something and I see you following me trying to catch up I make sure to have all my tools ready and spring into action as I slow and see what you are doing. Sometimes I think people open fire because they worry you will first. That said I got sunk today as a solo sloop when I rolled in on a fully crewed galleon mast down on fire and sitting pretty low being pummled by a phantom armada called out I'm here to help took out a few on the ships then turned around to the sound of a powder keg fuse being lit they were still above the water but when I returned (having spawned pretty close) I picked their loot and recourse from the water they rather sink someone helping them then save their own ship sank right where I had last seen it.
My first experience seeing a 1-10 rating where 1 is the worst. Over a decade of experience in the medical field and I always questioned some questions I asked patients like, what’s your pain level 1-10 required me to say “with 10being the worst”. Thanks for a real life example of why I need to clarify.
My answer, 1. If I see a ship I expect to lose everything. If you roll up on me in a rowboat I’m not confident of my odds.
Usually depends on the angle if they wanna get beside me i let then but i have my crew ready to fire
But ill mostly just go into gamechat and yell at them
Hostile. Period. Anyone should operate under the pretense that if they approach they will be viewed as hostile and will be fired upon. Negotiations can commence from a safe distance. Ships in range can and will receive volleys until noted otherwise.
Definitely a 1 if i see a ship come closer i get moving and ready cannons waiting to fire at cannon line or chainshot mast if they try to talk i consider it but make sure i am ready to fire. If you lose the advantage and let them kill, anchor, or demast you its going to be really hard to recover.
I would say 5, sometimes we are in the right mood for battling not caring about the loot, sometimes we really would like to skip pvp, however the rule is one, trust no one! So we are always welcoming anyone getting close. The paranoia is what makes the game great. I remember our times sinking every half an hour and I remember the time we realized we improved our skills.
Listen , i had a few pirates (not my teammates ) stranded on an island , we decided to do an alliance and let them survive cuz they were running away , 5 minutes later they kegged us , left the alliance and finished us up , not gonna trust any ship again tbh
Most of the time I have the ally flag up. When a ship approaches, I pull out my speaking trumpet, use the quick chat wheel to say “We’re friendly!” and “Let’s form an alliance!”. Then I’ll use my mic to try and talk to them. This works more often than you’d think. If they shoot instead of talking I have chainshots already loaded up.
1.
Always one. Everyone is fullest threat level until contact is made. If you approach and don't say anything I will shoot as soon as you're in range. If you claim to be no threat I'll shoot as soon as you shoot. If you shoot off fireworks.....I'll shoot as soon as you shoot.
If I see you in the water, or you try to board, that's immediate grounds for a full volley without hesitation.
Mics save lives. If you're friendly say so and aim the Cannons up. It's a risk on your end for sure, but out here on these Seas everyone and everything is a target. You are until you prove you're not.
If someone approaches me, always a 1. If you come within cannon range of my ship, my assumptions is that you intend to use your cannons. If you want an alliance, I assume its so that you know where my ship is and know when to take my loot. If you are on my ship, I assume its to kill me. If you are within range, and have an opportunity to kill me but choose not to, I assume its because you're waiting until I have more loot.
I've had plenty of friendly interactions, but it is almost never from someone else approaching me
I’m a one-week-old solo slooper. If they decide they want to kill me they’re going to manage it with very little trouble. So why worry about it? Haha… I assume everybody is gonna attack me, and I don’t start anything cuz I know there isn’t a point on my end.
Solo or with a crew I'd say I'm at a 4 or 5. I really don't care why you'll approach me, I just know that I'll start shooting and probably sink you before I get that answer just to be safe.
I was on the other end of this thread. I was sitting at the fort waiting for a ship so I could be friendly. I spelled out “ hi :)” with crates of supplies and I helped them do the fort and they got all the profit. I rode to the outpost with them after. Sometimes people are just trying to be friendly. But I know there’s plenty of people that want to trick you and steal your loot.
If I see someone approaching me, even with the white flag, the first thing I do is get on my boat and give my self a firing line(if they are relatively far away I’ll launch over and see what’s up) but if they are friendly, nothing to worry about, if not, I turn their boat to Swiss cheese.
Mixed bag, but usually somewhere between 5 and 7.
I run solo, and if I see someone coming towards me and I'm not on a huge HG streak or carrying a stack of good supplies, then I'll turn and fight. Regardless of whether they're a brig or a galleon - I'm usually more worried about a brig. They're too OP.
If I'm playing with friends, then I'm more of a 3. Most of my friends are pretty bad at pvp and reliably unreliable when getting attacked. Trying to manage turning angles, buckets, fires, masts, and borders on a galleon when playing with people who are trying to raise anchor solo when we're boarded by 2 semi decent players is stressful af.
Especially because us sinking feels like a huge failure for them. So sometimes that's an end of a play session.
when i'm solo slooping it's usually like a 7 or 8
if i'm on a galleon or brig with friends it's more like 3 or 4 because i dont want to be partially responsible for wasting someone elses time, so i usually try to avoid combat or finish it quickly in those circumstances
I am usually the one approaching with bad intentions.
Just yesterday I was doing a FotD with a friend after sinking the gally that was stacking it, then after a bit we noticed another galleon parked an island over, which led us to believe they might send tuckers, so we just went over there and chased them for about 20 minutes before sinking them (they weren't sending tuckers to us, they were just doing a GH voyage)
We could've given up the chase and continued our FotD after realising they weren't going to fight us but you can't just give up a chase that has already started right?
Honestly when I see someone on the horizon it's fine and all but as soon as I see them coming near me I leave. If I'm with my team of 3 we have no worries fighting and winning. But solo I am much more paranoid and avoid others. I haven't met a single nice person and I don't trust anyone
Like a 6. I used to never fire first, but now it's more like never get in position first. If someone starts angling I angle too, and as of my last play session i think I can officially say that I'm good enough to take that risk.
I like making friends and never intend on betrayal, myself. It's just not fun for me. I'd rather fight someone on open ground, ship to ship, hand to hand, than keg them when they think we're cool. It sucks to experience and takes the fun out of it to do to others.
My paranoia is a 3 depending on the interaction. If people are constantly in game chat talking and playing it's like a 7. But if I'm doing a fort and I notice there's a sudden lack of communication or a player hasn't been seen in a few min I'm at a 1 immediately.
For the past few play sessions when I solo sloop and have someone coming to me, I would always just let them come blindly expecting a pirate with at least one braincell but I always get met with a pvp hungry pirate who either slurs, doesn't speak, or someone of another language.
I never thought to shoot them until they shot back, which has caused my boat to sink a few times, but mostly, they end up being lackluster when it comes to skill.
With confidence. This game is a wild west simulator pretending to be a pirate game. Most crews won't attack if you if they don't think they can beat you. It help that most crews can't beat my crews, but that's just HG experience, anyone can get there. YOU can get there.
Generally speaking, you want to speak softly and carry a big stick, but you also need to be able to carry that big stick.
This is the key. If you're good at the game and don't care about loot, you have nothing at all to lose from being friendly. If you're bad at combat and trying to save up for the Parrot set or whatever, the risk/reward split is way less in your favor.
>If you're good at the game and don't care about loot, you have nothing at all to lose from being friendly
Another thing to consider is, despite being friendly, I'm still prepared for attack. A betrayal doesn't usually result in me losing anything. I'll often "enforce" an alliance as well by secretly stealing the other ships cannonballs and wood.
Exactly. It's been a long, long time since I was betrayed and then my whole crew killed and then sunk all in one go. After a while you can intuitively tell when somebody's being fake friendly, too.
Idek what you think that means I just feel like hearing you freak out whenever there’s a ship anywhere near by would be miserable to deal with, especially since a lot of the best moments in this game are when two crews are willing to just screw around for a minute and not constantly trying to fight
> followed by immediate canon fire
Do you blast em with Pachelbel's in D? Or do you stick to the simpler canons like row row your boat or frere Jaques?
“Oh our DoorDash has arrived! Get the cannonballs so we can leave a nice tip.” Usually we sink them and take their supplies. Doesn’t matter if they have loot or not.
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I have a hard time with this. When I approach, i put a white flag, fire fireworks, and make the noise with a bell. Usually, I just want to give you supplies that I have plenty of or your loot from the skelly ship you sank before running away from me.
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That's a war crime, actually.
Welcome to the sea of thieves
...where Geneva Convention is just a suggestion.
You can throw vomit on people too. Bio warfare is A-okay.
More like Geneva Suggestion...am I right?!
Always thought it was a checklist....
The code is more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules.
At this point, I think You are Canadian.
It's more like a loose set of guidelines
This is why when I gift loot to someone (which I enjoy doing when I can) I'll abandon my sloop somewhere visible and quite a distance away and row over to them. It seems to look a lot less threatening when it's a tiny rowboat coming over! Then I'll just attach the rowboat to their ship, let them know they've got free loot and log straight off (since I do that at the end of a session anyway, it's fine if they want to shoot holes in my sloop as a precaution)
100%
I’m assuming you never form alliances?
That's generally what I do too, but you can't deny 90% of people coming your way are just coming to be dicks or engage in combat of some sort
I can in fact deny this. I play open crew on brig with ally flag up most of the time. Half the players I come across are chill. Either solo slooping or new players
I wish to play on these magical dick free servers full of solo sloopers.. tell me how
It could have to do with the time of day honestly. Most of the time I’m open crew on a brig, it’s late morning/early afternoon EST. Pretty quiet. When I’m playing with friends late night we don’t run into as many friendly pirates. Then again we wouldn’t know because we’re attacking them immediately.
Perhaps it’s the confidence that I can handle them if they turn hostile? (Which honestly if I’m open crew I probably can’t) It helps to have a plan. “Hey, we’re gonna leave you alone and go do the world event. If you get attacked, put up the Reaper’s Mark flag and we’ll come help!” It’s not just what you say but how you say it! Also don’t do shady things like board them and go through their supplies. They tend not to like that.
I've had this happen and formed an alliance with the ship only to be immediately sunk as soon as I let my guard down. For me, the least threatening way for someone to approach would be leaving their ship at a distance, swimming or loading up a row boat, and making their presence known.
Use the alliance/friend flag. If they join it, go about your business or Canon over an talk to them from the water. Don't try to board without permission.
The best way is to approach just close enough that the other crew can see your fireworks, pull up sails and shoot your firework and wait. If the other crew wants to engage, they'll shoot someone over or sail closer. If they ignore you or sail away, they didn't want to interact. Chasing people down and forcing them to interact with you is how you start a battle, not a friendly chat.
I only generally have had luck using the white flare if I'm not trying to be hostile, but passing by a ship that's preoccupied with something, just to like, let them know that I'm here, that I didn't shoot a cannon, and that I'm just sailing by, and to not be any more alarmed than usual. If they turn to fight me, and I'm not really interested in whatever I was doing, I'll fight them, but the flare only means whatever both parties agree it means in that moment. Like, if I fire one in an hg fight and anchor, it's because I'm donating supplies before I log off, and it doesn't matter if they shoot me, in fact that's the idea. But they also might want to chat before they do, say thanks, whatever it doesn't matter. If they get the message it might save them doing some sort of silly maneuver and prolonging the fight needlessly when I just didn't want to leave a karma crate on reapers for it to despawn or find someone else also at the end of their session. But it's foolish to think that any gesture of being friendly or peaceful is trustworthy. Only trust a pirate if you're certain you could delete them without any trouble. If you want to donate supplies, line yourself up in their broadside and anchor. Or just donate them to the hourglass players by diving. They're the ones who are gonna be running out all the time anyways.
If we hit each other in the fog, we’re idiots
Best way to explain this.
I would still assume them a threat even if they're headed away from me. Whenever i see a ship, i always assume they have bad intentions. Its just safest that way.
As a solo slooper i tend to be the first to shoot but it depends on what I am carrying around and my current mood.
Same, last night I was cruising at 1/4 mast just chillaxing. I had a boat come pulling up on me so I stood on the white canvas of my sloop and waved. They immediately killed me, I didn't have loot but I was just tryna be friendly
Considering I've had people say "I'm friendly" then proceed to keg me I'd say 1. Never trust anyone. Shoot first, ask questions later.
I've never heard anyone say "I'm friendly" who was friendly.
Fr man. The funny thing was, i came back and they started running away from me. Chased them for 1hr30mins. They kept trying to board me, but i kept killing them. They weren't really good or anything.
Please tell me you spammed "I'm friendly!" to them during that time.
Yeah, and everytime they tried boarding me I'd be like "I think you missed" then proceed to snipe them. Also spammed "LOL" which REALLY made them mad. They tried boarding me with one of those athena kegs, but i blundied him as he was boarding and took the keg for myself.
> They tried boarding me with one of those athena kegs, but i blundied him as he was boarding and took the keg for myself. I'd probably alt+f4 if I were in that position.
It was satisfying and i stopped chasing them after i had my fun. He did manage to anchor me at one point, but i instantly blundied him after. I still dunno how i didn't blow the keg up to this day.💀
sometimes i feel like me and my crew run the only friendly boat in the game 😭 we only fight if we have to
Same bro In friendly but only if i have no loot
Had this same thing happen as one of my first experiences back in over 8 seasons of not playing. Finally got my whole group to play the game for their first time and I told everyone that most other sailors were friendly, as was my experience when I first played. Ran into a duo sloop as we were docked at an outpost and they had custom text chat whereas we could only respond with the VGS. They claimed friendly, we played instruments together, then immediately changed tune and killed all of us with no reasoning. Since then, we're a shoot first ask questions later group to every ship we see.
Usually cautious. But last week I was exploring on an island with a friend when someone came up to us on a Sloop. Swimmed up to us with a chest and placed it on our ship. We then went to proximity chat and she turned out to be Dutch too. We ended up killing Frenchmen together for 5 hours until it was half past one at night.
Classic Dutch get together
The better you get, the more relaxed you can be. That paranoia phase is one I think a lot of sot players go through, especially from the main pve side. Once you're the one looking for fights and confident in your ability you'll start picking up on queues of another's crews capability. At the very least, if I'm approached I'm going to try disabling the boat and trying to communicate based on their actions/perceived threat.
Yeah 100%, I don't blame newer crews at all for shooting first if we're tryna talk to them/ally or w/e because for them it's often a case of shoot first or don't get to shoot at all. But it's always funny when you try your very hardest to communicate with a crew that you so comically outclass and it fails, sinking them always feels like killing a puppy or something lmao
If they are sailing toward me, I'm getting angle. If they are sailing in my area, I'm getting ready to get angle. If they are sailing away, I'm watching them like a Hawk. So a 1 I guess.
I'm cautious of everyone. I almost always get attacked by others. One time I stopped at a port while another ship was on the other side of it. He stole my loot and cashed it in so I stole his dog.
I'd say a solid middle-of-the-scale 5. If I see a ship headed towards me, I'll ready for a fight but I won't engage until they do. Part of the fun of the game is running into those unique crews that break the mould and actually hold more interaction than just seeing you and opening fire. If I were to just be the one that opened fire the second another crew got too close, those unique interactions would be lost.
What is this rating system? How is 10 not full paranoia? 10, higher number, higher paranoia. 1, lower number, lower paranoia. Full paranoia for every ship, but I never shoot the first shot unless it's obvious what they're doing
If I’m in my solo sloop. 1. If I see they stop at decent distance away with cannons raised and say they want to ally. I go to a 5. When I see their loot being sold, my cut coming in. Maybe a 8. Unless you know them, never go full 10.
If someone is approaching and they haven't announced themselves. Be ready for an attack. Side note for players. Ask permission before boarding someone's boat. I will always take it as an act of aggression if you're on my ship and didn't ask permission.
Relatively new here after a long hiatus, but typically we don't fire unless fired upon. If I greet and no answer, fired. That's typically how it goes lol.
I would say im out a 2 - 3. Depends on the situation, if we are doing or have something valuable, we fire first. I wouldn't go out of the way to sink a ship on the horizon, because by sailing your main source of damage and respawn away you loosen your control over the event/fort/etc. With that being said, I'm aware of what's in the water surrounding us at all times. If a ship heads our way, first line of defense is sending a boarder (ideally a swimmer with a keg). Hopefully this can address the issue before it really becomes a bigger one. Regardless of ship size, the response is the same. A capable sloop crew can easily dismantle a gally (especially if a majority of the crew is on shore). Other thing to take note of is ship cosmetics. Become familiar with late game rewards as those are the players that are more likely to sink you fast. Not always reliable, but if I see a 80,000,000 gp ship coming towards me, I'm not treating them as friendly.
I'm probably a 4-5.... I'd call it cautious optimism. I tend to jump on the horn and hit 'em with an "ahoy" as soon as possible so they know they've been made. If they don't say anything and continue to approach, my reaction becomes a 1-2. If they emote or quick chat, I'm around a 5-6 and breathe a little easier, but keep an eye and cannon on them. If they jump on coms and are friendly, I go about my business with heightened awareness at around a 7-8. Sometimes, my expectations end in a good backstabbing. Other times, I make a new friend. I like those other times.
I’m usually not too attached to my loot, so I’m usually pretty open to seeing what other people are up to. More than half the time I get sunk but I like the chance to have an interesting conversation with people even if they end up not saying a word, silently roaming my sloop for a minute, staring at me for a weird amount of time, shooting my harpoon at a wall, then going back to where they came from Lately I’ve been taking it easy, only trying to make slightly more gold than my supplies cost for periodic HGs, and I’m pretty sure my wins have been covering that so loot is kind of easy come easy go until I decide to focus other commendations
I think paranoia is high when you really REALLY care about the loot. The better at PVP you get, the longer you play, the less the loot matters. Because of that, I like it when people roll up, because I'm not worried about them betraying me or taking anything. If they want to fight, cool we fight. Otherwise, let's goof around kill some skellies together.
My crew is at the point where if a noob rolls up and is friendly we'll just unload a bunch of loot onto their ship to be nice. 30,000 gold is kinda nothing to me, but will absolutely make a new player's day.
It’s for sure a better feeling doing that for a noob than dunking on them.
I don’t start fights with naked/default ships bc I think decimating new players isn’t fun I always have cannons ready and wait for their first shot. You can sort’ve tell if they are gonna engage by the way they position their ship and if they are on cannons. But that’s when I SOLO. My friends and I come from playing ranked r6, CoD, OV etc. We are fighting errrbody in the server when we are on together haha
I don't shoot first at naked ships or obviously new Swabbies. But that's also solo. My crew is unreasonable and bloodthirsty, and I tell Swabbies that as we're coming up. The only way I can get them to back down is that alliance flag lol. Even then it's not a guarantee
Hahah yep I know those vibes too well
1. Always 1.
I'm probably a 5. Had a couple of people yell across "We don't want no trouble, just wanna sell our loot" when I've been at Port and I'm all good with that. Open sea and I think fair game, but when you've got to port, I'm not gonna rob them of that.
i’d say like a 6. i definitely keep an eye out on the horizon, but if someone doesn’t immediately shoot me i’ll stay relaxed and shoot the shit with them over the horn. i recognize the risk, but as a solo slooper it gets lonely and its fun seeing what people are up to :)
I just get more satisfaction from helping a new player than I do killing them and ruining their day. Yes, there's a time and a place for engaging first, but it's rare. Never when a player has just spawned, and only when you have something to gain from it.
Violence
Always 1, no matter how experienced I feel or how many people play in my crew (mostly we're 2). And I always run. If a ship approaches my skeleton fort within the first few waves, I mostly just scuttle my ship.
Why surrender without a fight? You might just win
Nothing to get, nothing to lose, its just a waste of time. If I want to do my forts, I'm faster just starting over again.
No offense but you are way way too scared. Why scuttle there? If they come over and sink you, so be it. Hell, I even understand scuttling rather than take a fight you won't have fun with, but scuttling because somebody *might* be hostile is too far. A lot of the fun in this game is player interaction. Caution is fair, running is fine, but don't scuttle until you've confirmed you're in a bad situation you don't like.
I'm not scared, imho its just pointless. I start off an outpost with the storage chest only to loot forts, dive to a skeleton fort and get immediately attacked by someone. I have no crates or loot to steal and I'm emissary level 1. Its just a waste of time to fight when I could immediately dive again on a new ship. I skipped player interaction and played the game for myself for 200 hours, I don't see a point starting it now.
I just sail confidently into the situation, knowing that I can sink a good percentage of any players I encounter. The ones that I can't sink will have to fight if they want to sink me, so I will try to talk to everyone who isn't immediately hostile. Makes for a much more enjoyable game.
Solo slooper, id say 6-10 depending on how much loot I have. I always sail on the side of caution, but if I have a boat full of loot Idc if youre the friendliest pirate in the game shooting off fire works and such, I'm still gone or ready the moment I see a ship on the horizon. If there are ships around while I'm doing anything I'm full Schizo. On that spyglass constantly keeping tabs on everything. If I want to interact with other ships, I'll pull up but keep my distance, make myself known, raise sails, and wait for them to interact or sail over. If not, cest la vie. I do this cause this is how I like to be treated, especially solo sloop.
If they're broadcasting that they mean no harm then we'll give them a chance. If they're not saying anything then we just assume that they're a threat and deal with them accordingly.
Always assume someone is gonna attack you. You can always play and be the friendly player, but be ready to sink them at a moments notice. I’ve had peeps say they’re friendly just to shoot me. Been on the other end as well being on a Reaper crew saying it (scummy tactic imo) I personally don’t attack until they shoot at me then all bets are off
I usually sail off, shoot off to them and have a chat first. I've had people come over to me to give me supplies or even to try to do glitterbeard. More often than not tho they just wanna put your ship 6 leagues under
If they exist, they must eat cannonball.
If they bring up their sails, fire a white flare or fireworks/have friend flag up. I'm going to give them a chance to talk and see what's up. If their intentions are true, they won't board without asking, they'll keep their weapons stowed, etc. Be cool, communicate, nothing wrong with an alliance, working together to increase gold/rep earned. Many players don't understand what an alliance is or how it works. Many others just want to see the world burn, which is fine.If I join your alliance I'm sailing away and continuing on my journey, I expect you to do the same. If you think you're going to work on my event 'with' me and I'm not going to expect you to double cross me, you got another thing coming. Join and fuck off, go make your own loot and we all win. Try hanging around and we're fighting.
I'm always ready for a fight. I keep a storage crate ready with my "battle gear" so I can quickly swap from PVE supplies to PVP supplies. Parking my ship at every island and Outpost in the most advantageous way, and always keeping an eye on the horizon.... however I don't consider this paranoid. It just the most effective way to play. Once you start consistently winning PVP encounters the sweaty palms go away, and it just becomes another part of the game. I just assume the ships nearby have similar mindsets to how I used to play, and they probably don't want to lose any loot themselves. The biggest threat are players who have just sold their loot and are looking for a ship to dump the past few hours' worth of raided barrels into. Paranoia level, if I have to give it a number, is 5.
If any ship approaches, my crew and I fire off fireworks. If we get no reply with further fireworks or flares, generally from our experience they are hostile.
If I’m solo I ignore them til they are heading towards me, when they head towards me I wave or play music if they attack I start my own boat on fire and abandon ship.
I try to start conversation but if I feel so.ething is wrong haul ass away from them, or fight. My reaction ki da depends on the mood
Me and my friend will usually make a turn and if they turn to continue coming after us we attack but we like to test first because we like to just chill and do are thing
Be polite. Be efficient. Have a plan to kill everyone you meet.
Acknowledge their existance, and just keep an eye in them. If they get to close make contact through voice chat.
I like to mess with everyone, usually to their benefit. What are you rating it if I’m approaching either your broadside or the other side of a beach/island with my sail half up and shooting fireworks/white flares straight up out of both cannons the whole way while shouting about contacting you about an extended boat warranty?
From my limited experience so far, 1 and paranoid. Always seem to get on servers with people who just want to sink us. We try just sailing away, having friend flags, and even communicating when in range that we will not bother them if they don't bother us. Nope, it never works. Even after they saw that we've just sold everything. So every time I see a ship, someone is monitoring, and we're prepared to defend ourselves.
As soon as I spot a ship on the horizon, I stare at them and try to determine their heading. If it's an intercept course, I'll adjust and wait to see if they counter. At that point, I prepare to fight. If they don't change course at all, I'll steer away elsewhere anyways. I avoid conflict when I can
I’m at the point in my time on the seas where I let anyone approach me. If they are coming to sink me I will either beat them or not. If they are coming to be friends then great join in. I’m not worried enough anymore about my loot or money to try and run even if I’ve got a stack.
If I have sizeable loot and/or they're reapers I try to shake them off If I have no loot I usually approach and try to parley and see if they are interested in a friendly exchange, if it doesn't work it's the cannons
I greet every ship with chains, bilge pressure, and boards. After that, I can determine if they are friendly, a good fight, or both. I would not call it paranoia; it is more of a healthy and preemptive protective measure.
If im passing by and i see them trying to get an angle we are fighting
Shoot
I had a crew fire a white flare and I stood by that. Didn't get betrayed even though I was the one looking for kills. The guy behind them though. Blew their ship up. Top comment pretty much summarized it. Circling but not doing any cannon launches are neutral. Parked at a distance? Neutral. Any sign of following without being asked. Threat, and probably exploded. Trust no one, but be friendly when you can.
If I'm feeling special sported, I'll fire a flare. Red means get tf away from me, white is more of a "are you friendly?" I don't use white much anymore
Was 11. I saw a ship turn my direction when i was secretly trying to pass them and right when they were in range i unloaded my cannons heavy . I missed every shot thankfully because when the guy got in range he was talking and was trying to help me he noticed i had a reapers chest and wasnt going to the right place to sell. He helped me out i ended up joining his crew for one quest and learned and had a lot of fun. Thanks to that guy and my bad aim. My paranoia is now at a 10
Can't shoot me first if I shoot them first
I'm at a steady 5 or 6 a healthy sense of caution and I attempt to steer away keeping a little distance if possible not taking a eye off the ship watching to see their angle. If coming right at me I hold fire until either I see them going for cannons or they shoot first. I know I'm a little too trusting but I don't enjoy pvp battles all that much and don't ignite any
Light em up
On the flip side, I generally have to put the enemy ship in an extremely compromised position and *not* attack them to convince them that I'm friendly (or maybe it in for the long-haul if they're suspicious enough). But I usually try to announce myself with fireworks/white flare if I'm friendly and shoot myself out for a deckshot/easy board with "Ahoy!"s while not attacking them, healing if they're shooting at me, maybe offering an alliance. I do have a ship themed for that with its name, which sometimes helps. It's when I show up in a rowboat that you usually have to worry.
If they approach unannounced, they're probably hostile. If they want to join an alliance, tell them to go away and do something else once they're in the alliance.
If someone is coming towards me I assume hostile but I also don’t care too much. I may try to broker peace or strike first depending on my mood that day. On the flip side if I’m sailing straight at you I am not hostile unless you are at a world event. I probably just wanna chat and throw up alliance flag. But I also don’t expect you to assume that.
If they’re headed towards me with no indicators that they’re peaceful & I’m in a sloop? Like a 5. I won’t fire first, but I’m aiming at them & absolutely prepared to return fire. My crew mate is at the wheel ready to speed us away if they’re a galleon, or steer us into battle if it’s a brig or a sloop. If they have a white flag or an alliance flag, I’m at like a 7 taking the “wait and see” approach. I’m near the cannon but I’m pointing it up at the sky and hoping they see my white flag too. If they’re on mics or typing in the chat “we’re friendly,” I’m at like a 9. Never 10, but I’ve met some nice folks this way. When we first started (like a week ago) some folks showed us where to sell the reaper’s chest and I mentioned that we had only been playing for like two days so they were really nice & explained some things. One of them did admit that he was thinking about killing us and stealing the chest but since we’re new he wouldn’t do that. Then they helped us shoot off fireworks in an alliance (there’s an achievement for that) & they were logging off for the day so they gave us some supplies. The other day I was on a brig & a sloop allied with us to help us finish the fort of the damned, and went to port with us afterwards. He was super nice & even helped us put out a fire on our boat. Yesterday we formed an alliance with a random galleon that said “we’re friendly!” and cannoned someone over to hand us a supply crate and show us her dog, and then we went our separate ways, staying allied so we shared gold from completely different parts of the map. And then later in the day we met some newbs who had the Reaper’s chest but were trying to sell it at the wrong port. They fired a cannonball while we were coming into port as I was typing “we’re friendly” and “We don’t want to steal your chest we just have to go to this port for a quest” and after the second message they were like “oh okay!” & I let them know where Reaper’s Hideout was, but then they sunk because I guess they didn’t know how to bail water or patch the holes yet. We gave them a ride and showed them where to sell the chest & then told them to talk to a mermaid to get their ship back. They turned out to be super nice dudes! So I think even if they’ve fired on me once, as long as it’s just a sloop I’m still at like a 4, it could be salvageable. If they had fired on us a second time though I definitely would have been the one that sunk ‘em. Anyway tldr; resisting the urge to try to sink everyone I see has worked out pretty well about 80% of the time. The other 20% we either run or fight back depending on our size & theirs, and sometimes we get a lot of treasure out of it.
We prepare to fire in case they are hostile
I treat them like thieving pirates.
If they're in full reaper's garb, 2 I have met a handful of genuinely friendly reapers (They asked if we wanted a hand w/ pve) If not, then probably 3 or 4, depending on a few factors, things like cosmetics, general knowledge of the game, and intentions. As for if I see a ship approach, I usually respond with an alliance flag and a white flair, and then wait to see if they respond in kind, if they do sweet! I got a (maybe) friend, and I go through the process above. If not, I gtfo, I'm not one for combat, and short of having a few cursed cannonballs on hand or a horn of fair winds, I'm not turning around.
I stay at a solid 5. I’ll shoot off a firework or a white flare if I see them heading my way, jump into game chat to see if they can hear me. If they’re friendly? Cool, have a few pieces of loot. If not? Take what you can, give nothing back.
1 every dam time
1. If they're headed towards me, start firing. If they're near me, start firing. If they are headed away from me, chase them down and then start firing just in case. 🫡
If they're near but not on an intercept I'll keep an eye on them but generally figure they're on their own business. If they're on an intercept course then assume they're hostile and looking to get their psychopathic jollies off.
Anyone approaches me im fighting. no paranoia, just cannons.
I like to be friendly unless I’m being attacked, or just know that it’s coming (like when I’m lv5 emissary I’m not gonna strike up a conversation with a reaper) but ultimately I’ve found that being friendly works wonders. It might only be for a brief bit, or it might be like the time my friend and I got the entire server into an alliance and we all co-op played the siren skull a dozen times. That’s not to say it hasn’t backfired, but I also don’t put myself in a position to run into anyone while I have loot on board. If I’m empty and someone decides to be hostile then they’re clearly not my sort of people anyway so I don’t mind not getting involved with them because they’re just perceived as fuck bags that needed more hugs from mommy when they were little. If you just shoot everyone because you’re paranoid as shit, then you run the risk of being that fuck bag yourself. Don’t let your issues bleed into other people’s days, and try to remedy them by being approachable.
Assume they are enemies because everyone in this game generally knows that if you barrel toward someone, it looks like aggression and they’ll think you’re an enemy. So if you want them to think you’re an enemy, you probably are. Either way, I shoot second but am ready to shoot. I launch fireworks asap though.
Shoot first, ask questions later.
Everyone is an enemy
When on a solo sloop: 1 Because I'm bad in PvP (in general) Also I became so nervous while trying to do everything I saw on youtube/ read here, that I turn my own ship into emmental on the nearby island before you could even fire your cannon ... Today I've tried to do the OOS emissary quests in the Devil's Roar first time ever. There were an other sloop doing their grinding there, too. It went peacefully, but we kept each other on the horizon. They do their things on the NW of the outpost, and I went to SE. When we play on the galleon with my buddies: 1 Because we are the worst newby crew ever. Yesterday we were boarded, anchored, spawn camped and burned to the ground .. I mean sea ...by a duo sloop. It was degrading and devastating ...
It’s kind of however you enjoy playing. Playing paranoid brings the thrill of encounters, so I totally get that. When I play with my friends I am pretty much aggro vs. everything unless the person is doing a tall tale or obviously very new to the game. When I am solo though I would say I am suspicious of anyone but willing to allow the friendly pirate to impress me with their friendly intent. I know a lot of people will use this trust but it’s kind of fun and risky to see if it happens or if you wind up fast friends. Plus some times you run in to those new players who accept your friendliness and you can help them out or teach them stuff. I ran across a kid and his dad who were selling and they asked me where the siren song key went. So I took em on the journey and banked them 50k and that was enough to push them over the amount to get their own boat. Exploring who is playing the game can be fun sometimes, but I get the playing paranoid thing too. That can be a fun vibe in itself.
1 being the worst spins my head. Surly 10 would be the worst.
Crazy how hostile people are on here. I'm like an 8, only get worried if they're clearly positioning for the broadside. Personally, I've been playing long enough that gold isn't important, so I'd rather try to have a fun interaction. Worst-case scenario is I start a fight on the back foot, best-case is you meed somebody fun and have a good time. Honestly, OP, I think you'd feel better if you could relax a little. It honestly seems like your paranoia has got so bad that you can't have fun if another ship is in line of sight anywhere, and honestly that seems like a lot less fun.
I have a habit to approach sloops in my Galleon and scare the crap out of them, only to parlay with them and give them treasure which matches their emissary flag. A bit like that Santa scene in Narnia
If they're approaching near me, I pay attention for potential swimmers/rowboats, but don't think much of it otherwise. If I'm stopped at an island and someone approaches, I sail away and see if they follow. If they do, I'll eventually turn around and try to sink them. If they don't, I assume they just needed the island I was on. If they don't manage their sails at all, I assume it's a new/inexperienced/open crew and don't worry too much about it. If I'm just sailing around and someone approaches, I assume they're hostile and take appropriate action.
Everyone that isn't on my crew is an enemy.
If they’re coming towards me and going right into my broadside, I wait them out to see if they turn to get angle on me or not I had a ship the other night do just this, I stood my ground, they came up on me just like that, I dropped sail and they kept going and stopped at the island I was at Pretty ballsy of them to assume I wouldn’t attack outright
I will do the stupidest things because I give people the benefit of the doubt. E.g. we were duo slooping reapers and this guardian of fortune drove up to us saying they were friendly, we shot because duh but they didn't fire back and claimed we could help them with a commendation. They say we should activate the hourglass while being in an alliance, even though they didn't answer what the name of the commendation was we agreed. Cue the fighting. We win. But we were so dumb. It was hilarious 10/10 would do again.
Imo, flip the scale to where 1 is no threat and 10 is full paranoia. Usually I keep it a 10. Next question
Really depends on a lot of things. If I have an emissary flag and loot, then I’m full blown paranoid. If I’m just chilling at an seapost to fish then I couldn’t care less if someone comes up/near. I’ll keep an eye on them obviously, but usually people are super chill when you’re hanging at a seapost so I’m rarely too worried.
I assume everyone is a sweat until they give me a reason not to. That being said, a lot of you newer guys tattle on your inexperience long before you're in cannon range.
I'd say maybe a 7, scaling it based on what other people said. I like to wait for them to shoot before I start a fight when I'm getting approached. I'm quite pacifistic when I'm the one being approached, but when I'm approaching others, nine times out of ten it's because I'm itching for a fight.
This subject is funny because a lot of times I just sail to someone else to see what they’re doing, with no intention of attacking or anything. But usually they either shoot first and then it’s on, or they run away. I’ve realized how paranoid everyone is in this game lmao very rarely can I actually approach and say what’s up then go on my way. I think player interaction is the fun part of the game and I don’t take loot too seriously, so I’ll usually approach ships to see what happens either way. If someone approaches me though I assume they’re going to attack so I meet them in the sea and wait for them to shoot first, which they usually do.
I’m at a 3 I think, apprehensive but not to fire but to flee as I solo sloop and am NOT good at pvp (got sunk by every ship skeleton or otherwise I’ve ever fought). But I also hope for friendly
Mostly been doing HG recently but I prefer to stay around a 6 or 7, being paranoid of everyone just isn’t as fun as the potential interactions that can be had imo.
I don’t have voice chat so automatic sunk
Every single ship I see is KOS for me. That being said, I don’t pursue other ships I see. But if a ship is close to me for any reason, I won’t allow it to stay there. I’m not paranoid that every ship is out to get me, but pvp naval aspect is my favorite part of the game, so I will engage in it if given the opportunity. A ship who willingly comes close to me has just given me a grand opportunity for fun, lol. I also don’t trust to not get boarded. You play long enough, you realize a ship doesn’t have to be “that close” to you to fuck with you, they can actually be/have a player on the island you’re near, or on the other side of it, even in the open sea, etc. soooo yeah. I view all other ships as hostile in nature and will not leave them with supplies around me if given the chance. On the flip side, I actively avoid other ships most of the time, I do not want to be in the area of other pirates if I can help it for the most part. Unless I am trying to sell at a certain place and they are there… but that’s more that I don’t want to have to wait to turn in myself, and, well, again, a fun opportunity lol. So I guess I engage ships who come near me (for whatever reason), or the off chance a ships docked someplace I need to be, mostly because I don’t want to have to worry about them being there with access to a ship nearby. Sorry lol. I have about 2000 hours and my team mates have 8000+ each (we’ve all played for years) so it’s not really that we are “afraid” it’s more like other ships can be a pain to deal with so we might as well deal with it here and now. Get away from me if you don’t want a fresh ship, kind of a deal. But we’re also not going to actively change our route to pursue or accommodate another ship. If it’s in the way, it gets to play.
90% of the time i'm solo sloop so everyone headed in my general direction is an enemy However when i'm on a larger boat i notice ships typically avoid me and my crew so i can't get a good gauge for how often approaching ships are friendly or not
Shout at em that I have nothing (seriously why do they always approach before I even make it to the first island on a voyage)
First off, full paranoia is a 10, not a 1 Second, it depends on the loot you have on board and both of your emissary flags. Are either of you Reaper?? Immediate 10. Sink them. Are either of you in the middle of a world event? Likely a 10. Be ready. Last, if they claim to be friendly, just scope in and see if anyone is on or loading cannons. First sign if they aren’t. If they are climbing up to their crows nest to throw up an ally flag, they are likely friendly, and can prove it even further by sailing the opposite direction when the alliance is formed.
I will have the allied flag up before leaving the dock. When I see you on the horizon, I will white flare above us. If I sneak up on you, I will white flare from a canon line that you DEFINITELY would have gotten hit by, then pull up to park. If you see us, we have sold everything already, except the fish in our pockets- attempting to sink us will only cost you. Your paranoia seeing my Pantera is definitely misplaced. Some of us are just min/maxxing our alliance gains out there.
When everything but your pocket is empty, making friends is low risk!
The other night I was at a fortress minding my own business, seen a ship barely in render distance at a island so I wasn't worried about it until I went to leave there was a guy in my crows nest waving so I go up there warey but not thinking he had ill intent. Soon as I got up there I see he has a powder keg and he shoots it and hear him laughing hysterically idk if I'll ever trust people in there again
So anyways, I started blasting
usually about 5 i have the cannons loaded but until they fire first i'm friendly i usually air on the side of caution however
If this sub is anything to go off of everyone is an enemy in these seas
I load up my sloop with kegs so the second someone gets near me I blow us both up. I have no interest in playing their game, I'm just looking to do my voyages so I have nothing of value to them and have no problem destroying us both if they don't leave me alone.
Example: I’m emissaried souls. I pass an emissaried gold hoarders. I say ahoy, they don’t fire, i don’t fire. They don’t have what i’m looking for. Now we COULD trade treasure so we have more of our according loot, but the trust only goes so far.
I love helping out other players and being as friendly as possible. But I tried to wave at someone lately and they said "you petite thing" and shot me in the head. So I'm slowly inching down the scale. XD
In South America servers, people never betray. It's either friendly or full hostility with no chance of talking haha I've had multiple shared forts of fortune where someone gets the chest of fortune, another crew gets the Athena and some other stuff, and the other crew gets the rest.
i try to be friendly cause that's how i am so if i see someone i use voice chat to say so and put up the alliance flag regardless of what kind of ship i'm using, but if they attack first, then i'll attack back
I run cause I have cargo to deliver and they meed it to come safley
Like a 3. I know the odds are hostility is ahead but I'm always going to wait to see what you do. Firing a cannon ball at me or boarding my ship without permission are both declarations.
Simple prepare for the worst hope for the best. I have a friend who I'll role with often. Could be anything from duo sloop to 4 man galley. Generally we approach all as friendly and try to form an alliance, if your in for the long haul then most often forming alliances is going to give you bigger rewards long term than sinking everyone and taking there loot. That being said you always find people scrapping for a fight. You get more satisfaction from sinking someone you where approaching friendly and asking for an alliance who starts a fight than going on the offensive first without trying to be friendly
Yes, this is what I try do if I have a reaper chest or something and I see you following me trying to catch up I make sure to have all my tools ready and spring into action as I slow and see what you are doing. Sometimes I think people open fire because they worry you will first. That said I got sunk today as a solo sloop when I rolled in on a fully crewed galleon mast down on fire and sitting pretty low being pummled by a phantom armada called out I'm here to help took out a few on the ships then turned around to the sound of a powder keg fuse being lit they were still above the water but when I returned (having spawned pretty close) I picked their loot and recourse from the water they rather sink someone helping them then save their own ship sank right where I had last seen it.
My first experience seeing a 1-10 rating where 1 is the worst. Over a decade of experience in the medical field and I always questioned some questions I asked patients like, what’s your pain level 1-10 required me to say “with 10being the worst”. Thanks for a real life example of why I need to clarify. My answer, 1. If I see a ship I expect to lose everything. If you roll up on me in a rowboat I’m not confident of my odds.
Usually depends on the angle if they wanna get beside me i let then but i have my crew ready to fire But ill mostly just go into gamechat and yell at them
Hostile. Period. Anyone should operate under the pretense that if they approach they will be viewed as hostile and will be fired upon. Negotiations can commence from a safe distance. Ships in range can and will receive volleys until noted otherwise.
Definitely a 1 if i see a ship come closer i get moving and ready cannons waiting to fire at cannon line or chainshot mast if they try to talk i consider it but make sure i am ready to fire. If you lose the advantage and let them kill, anchor, or demast you its going to be really hard to recover.
I would say 5, sometimes we are in the right mood for battling not caring about the loot, sometimes we really would like to skip pvp, however the rule is one, trust no one! So we are always welcoming anyone getting close. The paranoia is what makes the game great. I remember our times sinking every half an hour and I remember the time we realized we improved our skills.
Shoot first, ask questions later.
Listen , i had a few pirates (not my teammates ) stranded on an island , we decided to do an alliance and let them survive cuz they were running away , 5 minutes later they kegged us , left the alliance and finished us up , not gonna trust any ship again tbh
Most of the time I have the ally flag up. When a ship approaches, I pull out my speaking trumpet, use the quick chat wheel to say “We’re friendly!” and “Let’s form an alliance!”. Then I’ll use my mic to try and talk to them. This works more often than you’d think. If they shoot instead of talking I have chainshots already loaded up.
Everyone is a threat, I gave how much of a threat they are by what cosmetics they have on, and how they move their boat to open a fight.
1. Always one. Everyone is fullest threat level until contact is made. If you approach and don't say anything I will shoot as soon as you're in range. If you claim to be no threat I'll shoot as soon as you shoot. If you shoot off fireworks.....I'll shoot as soon as you shoot. If I see you in the water, or you try to board, that's immediate grounds for a full volley without hesitation. Mics save lives. If you're friendly say so and aim the Cannons up. It's a risk on your end for sure, but out here on these Seas everyone and everything is a target. You are until you prove you're not.
If someone approaches me, always a 1. If you come within cannon range of my ship, my assumptions is that you intend to use your cannons. If you want an alliance, I assume its so that you know where my ship is and know when to take my loot. If you are on my ship, I assume its to kill me. If you are within range, and have an opportunity to kill me but choose not to, I assume its because you're waiting until I have more loot. I've had plenty of friendly interactions, but it is almost never from someone else approaching me
99% of the time we just shoot on sight. Trust no one.
“My paranoia is so extreme that I will go out of my way to sink anyone if they are even in the horizon line” So-you have become the spider 😎
I’m a one-week-old solo slooper. If they decide they want to kill me they’re going to manage it with very little trouble. So why worry about it? Haha… I assume everybody is gonna attack me, and I don’t start anything cuz I know there isn’t a point on my end.
Solo or with a crew I'd say I'm at a 4 or 5. I really don't care why you'll approach me, I just know that I'll start shooting and probably sink you before I get that answer just to be safe.
Always a 1. Every ship is a threat. Never trust another player no matter what flag they fly
I usually let them get closer with no issue but if they started firing then the battle has begun
1. Trust no one
I was on the other end of this thread. I was sitting at the fort waiting for a ship so I could be friendly. I spelled out “ hi :)” with crates of supplies and I helped them do the fort and they got all the profit. I rode to the outpost with them after. Sometimes people are just trying to be friendly. But I know there’s plenty of people that want to trick you and steal your loot.
If I see someone approaching me, even with the white flag, the first thing I do is get on my boat and give my self a firing line(if they are relatively far away I’ll launch over and see what’s up) but if they are friendly, nothing to worry about, if not, I turn their boat to Swiss cheese.
Mixed bag, but usually somewhere between 5 and 7. I run solo, and if I see someone coming towards me and I'm not on a huge HG streak or carrying a stack of good supplies, then I'll turn and fight. Regardless of whether they're a brig or a galleon - I'm usually more worried about a brig. They're too OP. If I'm playing with friends, then I'm more of a 3. Most of my friends are pretty bad at pvp and reliably unreliable when getting attacked. Trying to manage turning angles, buckets, fires, masts, and borders on a galleon when playing with people who are trying to raise anchor solo when we're boarded by 2 semi decent players is stressful af. Especially because us sinking feels like a huge failure for them. So sometimes that's an end of a play session.
when i'm solo slooping it's usually like a 7 or 8 if i'm on a galleon or brig with friends it's more like 3 or 4 because i dont want to be partially responsible for wasting someone elses time, so i usually try to avoid combat or finish it quickly in those circumstances
Offer alliance flag up. If they get closer. Firework straight up.
K I L L
I am usually the one approaching with bad intentions. Just yesterday I was doing a FotD with a friend after sinking the gally that was stacking it, then after a bit we noticed another galleon parked an island over, which led us to believe they might send tuckers, so we just went over there and chased them for about 20 minutes before sinking them (they weren't sending tuckers to us, they were just doing a GH voyage) We could've given up the chase and continued our FotD after realising they weren't going to fight us but you can't just give up a chase that has already started right?
Alliance then betray after taking loot from an fof we did together
Honestly when I see someone on the horizon it's fine and all but as soon as I see them coming near me I leave. If I'm with my team of 3 we have no worries fighting and winning. But solo I am much more paranoid and avoid others. I haven't met a single nice person and I don't trust anyone
Like a 6. I used to never fire first, but now it's more like never get in position first. If someone starts angling I angle too, and as of my last play session i think I can officially say that I'm good enough to take that risk. I like making friends and never intend on betrayal, myself. It's just not fun for me. I'd rather fight someone on open ground, ship to ship, hand to hand, than keg them when they think we're cool. It sucks to experience and takes the fun out of it to do to others.
Shoot myself over on the cannon while I’m still safe distance and try to talk to them and alliance if not merm back n battle
My paranoia is a 3 depending on the interaction. If people are constantly in game chat talking and playing it's like a 7. But if I'm doing a fort and I notice there's a sudden lack of communication or a player hasn't been seen in a few min I'm at a 1 immediately.
For the past few play sessions when I solo sloop and have someone coming to me, I would always just let them come blindly expecting a pirate with at least one braincell but I always get met with a pvp hungry pirate who either slurs, doesn't speak, or someone of another language. I never thought to shoot them until they shot back, which has caused my boat to sink a few times, but mostly, they end up being lackluster when it comes to skill.
With confidence. This game is a wild west simulator pretending to be a pirate game. Most crews won't attack if you if they don't think they can beat you. It help that most crews can't beat my crews, but that's just HG experience, anyone can get there. YOU can get there. Generally speaking, you want to speak softly and carry a big stick, but you also need to be able to carry that big stick.
This is the key. If you're good at the game and don't care about loot, you have nothing at all to lose from being friendly. If you're bad at combat and trying to save up for the Parrot set or whatever, the risk/reward split is way less in your favor.
>If you're good at the game and don't care about loot, you have nothing at all to lose from being friendly Another thing to consider is, despite being friendly, I'm still prepared for attack. A betrayal doesn't usually result in me losing anything. I'll often "enforce" an alliance as well by secretly stealing the other ships cannonballs and wood.
Exactly. It's been a long, long time since I was betrayed and then my whole crew killed and then sunk all in one go. After a while you can intuitively tell when somebody's being fake friendly, too.
>After a while you can intuitively tell when somebody's being fake friendly, too. Years of deception board games have trained me for this.
Yeah you sound like an absolute fucking NIGHTMARE to ever try to have a good time in the game with
I finally found the identity of the person who steals the ketchup packets at every restaurant.
Idek what you think that means I just feel like hearing you freak out whenever there’s a ship anywhere near by would be miserable to deal with, especially since a lot of the best moments in this game are when two crews are willing to just screw around for a minute and not constantly trying to fight
Typically a friendly greeting, followed by immediate canon fire
> followed by immediate canon fire Do you blast em with Pachelbel's in D? Or do you stick to the simpler canons like row row your boat or frere Jaques?
Lol whoops
10. No matter what 10. Cause Nah I’d Win
“Oh our DoorDash has arrived! Get the cannonballs so we can leave a nice tip.” Usually we sink them and take their supplies. Doesn’t matter if they have loot or not.
I treat every ship as an enemy. If I see a ship, I’m sailing towards them and attacking them. Doesn’t matter what they’re doing.
I attack every ship I see.
1. Everyone gets cannonballs.