My Son Got Ganked

Maybe it's a mistake, but I let my son and daughter try Sea of Thieves out. They are both enjoying it immensely, though my daughter gets stressed the moment she has something of value aboard her ship. She's worried someone is going to kill her character and take it away. This is a reasonable concern, and I often share a similar sense of dread once I've accumulated a good amount of loot.

My son was playing last night, solo in a sloop, and came back to port to sell what he'd found. As he did so, a galleon pulled into port. Immediately, one of the galleon's crew swam to my son's boat to see if there was anything worth stealing. My son, being the good-natured fellow he is, followed the guy aboard and said, "How's your day going?"

The guy muttered something in response before murdering my son's character. Afterward, the rest of his crew boarded and took what little loot my son had left aboard: a Castaway's Chest and two Foul Bounty Skulls. Probably about 300g worth of loot, if he was lucky. So, in the end, a group of guys killed his character and stole the least valuable stuff you can find in the game.

As my son respawned aboard his sloop, we could hear the sounds of his anchor being raised. They were stealing his ship. He respawned right behind the guy at the wheel and my immediate suggestion was, "Shoot that jerk in the back of his thick head." Thinking on this for a moment, my son nodded and did just that.

The guy, wounded, let go the wheel and turned around as his friend (who had been raising the anchor) appeared on screen with cutlass at the ready. One of them (not sure which at this point) starts saying, "Don't shoot! Don't shoot! We're just 'borrowing' your ship for a bit."

So, suddenly, the guys who ganked his character and stole 300g in loot are asking my son to allow them to use his sloop for "a bit."

My son doesn't respond. Instead, he goes into the player menu and scuttles the boat, then jumps off and waits for his mermaid to spawn. Meanwhile, Dorkbeard and his first mate get to experience the ship sinking. I assume they had to swim back to the outpost (where their galleon was still docked), as they weren't far enough away to warrant a mermaid.

What boggles me is that they kill him, steal his stuff, then they ask him to not kill them so they can use his ship. Where is the logic there? I suppose by asking nicely (following virtual murder and theft), rather than killing him on respawn, they were hoping to gain his cooperation rather than risk him sinking his own boat. No way, man. You want a sloop, log out and get your own.

My boy was pretty easygoing about the experience. He's such a mellow kid. Just his question when the guy boarded his ship in search of valuables, "How's your day going?" is entirely in character for him and far more friendly than anything I would've said. Had I been in that guy's shoes, looking over the measly haul in my kid's hold, I would've answered, "Great, thanks for asking," before jumping off and returning to my ship.

The next time I play, I think I'm going to forgo voyages and just look for other boats. I'm going to get as close as I can and engage them in conversation and see how many of them kill me on general principles.