My little girl seems to attract griefers for some reason. It probably comes down to being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I can't help but sympathize with her. She doesn't bring this stuff on herself in any way, it just happens.
Last night, after supper, she played SoT for about 30-45 minutes. After logging in and running around the outpost to collect supplies, she noticed another sloop sailing towards the docks. Once in range, the sloop proceeded to shell her boat. Hoping to avoid a confrontation, she scuttled her ship and went up to the tavern to wait for the guy to leave.
Long story short, he didn't leave. In fact, he anchored his sloop next to her mermaid and camped the spot with his eye of reach (ie, sniper rifle). Whenever she'd come out to see if he was gone, or to try and get to her mermaid, he'd shoot at her. Eventually he shot and killed her.
What the hell kind of sociopathic crap is that? It's not enough to sink someone's sloop before they've even left the dock, but you have to make sure you kill them, too?
I don't think my daughter gets too upset over these things. She's come to accept the possibility, but she doesn't enjoy it when it becomes the reality. She eventually respawned at a small island, then (just to see if she could) swam to another island she saw in the distance (killing two sharks on the way). After that, she went back to her ship and sailed to the secret island at N10 to explore.
I played for about an hour, myself. I managed to complete a profitable Merchant Alliance voyage (thank God for gold snakes!). It took me the whole hour, though, because I couldn't find chickens anywhere. I eventually turned in my snakes just to avoid losing them to some random dweeb before canvassing several islands for poultry products. Eventually I found the birds, but it took more time than I would've liked.
Once again I went sailing, and once again I decided just to do my thing and not worry too much about the minute details of my voyage. I decided to do more Merchant Alliance missions, and my first was to locate and catch four chickens (a white, a gold, and two red-speckled). When I started out, I had no idea how long a process this was going to be.
I went to a number of islands and found no chickens, but I did manage to secure three more chicken coops and a pig crate. Eventually I ended up sailing to Smuggler's Bay, which was crawling with livestock. Only thing is, it was also crawling with skeletons.
As I sailed into the bay, a skeleton on the hillside began shooting a cannon at my ship. I leapt out, ran up the hill, and broke the skeleton up into pieces, but by the time I got back to my ship, it had been sunk. I swam out into the bay and got all my coops and cages back, making a nice little pile on the beach.
In order to save myself the trouble later, I captured the chickens I needed and left them behind while I went to my mermaid in order to get to my replacement ship. It wasn't too far off from Smuggler's Bay, so I set course and figured I'd have it all wrapped up within a few minutes. Wrong.
"Can't we just get along? Hmm?"
I passed near a sloop en route to Smuggler's Bay and its intrepid captain decided to chase me. Not really wanting to deal with a hostile encounter, I proceeded to wave at the guy. Afterwards, I put my sails up and slowed down while he pulled up alongside.
We had a brief conversation (which, in the video, is terribly one-sided, as only his voice was recorded). However, it went something like this:
Me: Hey there. I don't have any loot. I'm just looking for chickens. island3r 808: Chickens? Fried chickens? Me: Any kind of chicken, really. island3r 808: This a merchant quest? Me: Yep. island3r 808: Lookin' for some krakens. Me: Not sure Krakens spawn for sloops. I could be wrong.
At this point he begins to behave erratically, swinging his sword about.
Me: Well, I'm going to go ahead and get my chickens now. See you later. island3r 808: Alright, have a good night.
I see he's moved down to his cannon, and I figured there was a high chance he was going to shoot me. But I also figured I needed to give him the benefit of the doubt, right? I mean... maybe he's just making sure I'm not going to mess with him.
But no. This fellow ("island3r 808") appeals to his baser childlike instincts and shoots me with a cannon just as I begin to weigh anchor. Needless to say, I die.
After a few seconds aboard the Ferry of the Damned (my home away from home), I return to my ship. He'd shot it a few more times, likely boarded to confirm I didn't have anything worth taking, and was sailing away. I patched the many holes in my ship and bailed out the water before raising my anchor and continuing on my merry way.
This dweeb wasn't done with me, though. I guess continuing to follow me around and shoot at me was more fun than, well, just about anything else he could've been doing with his time. He knew I had nothing of value, so I can only assume he was being a jerk.
I decided to take a pot shot at him with my eye of reach. I know I didn't hit him, but it did incentivize him to shoot his cannon at me a few more times. Not one to sit idly by, I took up my own cannon and returned fire. To my sincere surprise, I received the "I Don't See Your Ship" achievement. And there his sloop was, sinking rather quickly into the sea.
All my aggravation at being griefed turned to amusement. He'd gotten exactly what was coming to him. Suddenly there was a God.
In summation, I returned to Smuggler's Bay and picked up my chickens. I left the extra coops behind, as it was late, and delivered the birds. I'd also found a message in a bottle along the way - a single map with five or six Xs on it - so I located the island and dug those bad boys up before heading off to my hammock for the night.
I count the evening a success, overall. My attempts to interact peacefully with another player came to nothing, though he did lose his virtual life in the process.
Last night I went sailing, but I didn't bother to jot anything down. I figured I'd just relax and see how things worked out. The murder rate was rather high again, and I accomplished absolutely nothing as a result. I ended up leaving the game due to being aggravated, but I can't blame my mood solely on Sea of Thieves. After all, I was grumpy in general and that never helps things.
In short, I decided to run a few Merchant Alliance voyages. They're generally pretty straightforward, and if they call for gold animals they can be incredibly profitable. The first voyage called for two black chickens, which is simple enough. I weighed anchor and sailed from island to island, finding no chickens anywhere.
When I finally did find an island with chickens, I dropped anchor, did a quick scan of the horizon, and waded ashore. Some skeletons spawned (and, oddly, kept spawning) which distracted me from the task at hand. As I ran to and fro on the beach hacking skeletons to bits, a galleon with fancy paint, sails, and figurehead pulled up next to my sloop and let fly a deadly broadside.
Not only did these blasts hit my boat, but they also hit me. Between damage sustained fighting skeletons and the cannon blasts, I found myself aboard the Ferry of the Damned pretty quickly. Returning to my ship on respawn, I discovered a pirate steering my sloop. What is it with these people?
I gave him a dose of my blunderbuss, but he survived. He drew his sword and, leaping around like a marine kangaroo, killed me. I found myself aboard the Ferry of the Damned once more. When I respawned, it was on a distant island with a new boat. Obviously, my sloop had been sunk and my chicken cages lost, forcing me to abandon my search for black chickens.
I certainly hope the galleon's crew had fun, because I thought the whole experience sucked. I'd hate to think they might've been disappointed by finding nothing aboard my ship worth stealing.
After abandoning the Merchant Alliance voyage, I figured I'd hunt for treasure with a Gold Hoarder voyage. It ended up with four maps, which I quickly identified and marked on my map. I headed west and dropped anchor near the first location. It was a small island and the treasure (a Seafarer's Chest) was easily located.
After I'd placed the treasure aboard my ship, I noticed another sloop heading my way. I dropped sails, weighed anchor, and was on my way as quick as can be. The other sloop fired a cannon at me, hitting once and knocking a hole in the back of my ship. I adjusted sails and ran away as best I could, but the other sloop decided to follow me.
This lasted quite a while, with me trying to outdistance the sloop. I did put some space between us, but it didn't last. Up ahead a storm was brewing, so I steered in that direction. Maybe I could lose them in the storm. With little else left to do, I grabbed an eye of reach (a sniper rifle, for all intents and purposes) and started taking pot shots at the other boat's crew.
I don't know if I hit anyone (I doubt it), but they must've had a crack shot aboard. The guy handily picked me off despite the rolling waves, rain, and distance.
After an obligatory wait aboard the Ferry of Souls, I returned to my sloop. Someone from the other ship was aboard, and they'd dropped my anchor, grabbed the piddly little Seafarer's Chest I'd found, and were in the process of returning to their own ship which pulled off and left me with a few cannon shots to remember them by. I patched the holes and bailed the water, then gave chase.
I can only assume I followed them because I was irked at losing the only thing of value I'd found in nearly an hour's play time. Maybe I could roll up on them while they docked at a nearby outpost and give a few of their cannonballs back to them, or I could sneak onto the island, find them, and chop them up. Neither plan was realized. I found myself watching them weigh anchor and head back out to sea from the beach of the outpost.
It was at this point I decided I wasn't really in the mood for Sea of Thieves any longer. Playing the game solo is hard enough, but when everyone out there is out for your blood, it makes it even more difficult. I don't think I'll be throwing in the towel just yet, but I'm moving in that direction.
I've never tried SoT on PC (I only play on XBox at home), so I decided to try it out at work over lunch today. I didn't take any voyages, I just sailed around to familiarize myself with the interface and looked for incidental loot to scavenge. Here's my log.
Sanctuary Outpost spawn-in.
Starting/Ending Rep - GH 23/23, OS 20/20, MA 20/20
Starting/Ending Gold: 34,785/35,596
Gold Earned: 811g
Lunch Cruise
First time playing on PC. No voyage, just going to sail around. Decide to check small islands for incidental loot, so I sail to Lonely Isle.
Find a chicken crate on Lonely Isle. Nothing else of interest (not even chickens).
Next, proceed to Rum Runner Isle. Nothing there, either. Maybe a larger island will bring more luck. Going to run around Cannon Cove.
XILEDxBATMAN, Prince Among Dweebs
Locate three gunpowder barrels on Cannon Cove, stow them in crow's nest for return to outpost. Also locate a banana crate on the beach and begin to fill it up.
As I'm running around looking for bananas, I come across some skeletons. Before I can do anything, a fellow named XILEDxBATMAN runs in and breaks 'em down into their basic osseous components. He explained he was looking for chickens and asked if I'd seen any. I directed him down to the beach and he went his merry way.
Before leaving, I gave him chicken coop I'd found on Lonely Island. He was a swell dude. I asked him to pose for a picture and wished him luck.
Head to Rapier Cay to scrounge. Nothing there but skeletons.
Lunch is over and a
storm is coming, so I head back to Sanctuary to sell my gunpowder (164g, 105g,
and 106g). I fill the banana crate and sell it to Mollie for 436g.
Plunder Outpost spawn-in.
Starting/Ending Rep - GH 22/23, OS 20/20, MA 20/20
Starting/Ending Gold: 24,891/27,946
Gold Earned: 3,055g
First Voyage: For the Merchant Alliance
"A persistent demand from the notable Mr. Lucas" who wants two white chickens and two red speckled chickens delivered to Ancient Spire Outpost by 11am on the 8th. Chickens are pretty easy to catch, but going in search of them is a pain in my butt.
Dropped anchor at Lookout Point to check for poultry. Found plenty of bacon, but no chickens. Notice shipwreck WNW of island. Might as well check it out.
No ships in sight. Dive to explore the wreck of The Blessing of Athena. Recovered Disgraced Bounty Skull and a crate of fine sugar.
Galleon far off to the NE. Going to cut and run, look for more chickens.
Land at Shark Bait Cove. Big island like this better have some chickens on it.
Chickens acquired. Notice ship (galleon) off port. Looks to be heading my way. Going to cut and run. Heading to Ancient Spire Outpost to deliver birds and other misc spoils. Galleon out of sight.
Spot glimmer on beach at Paradise Spring. Stopping to check it out. Coast is clear.
Found two messages in bottles (the first a map marked with several Xs, the second a wanted poster for three skellies on Snake Island) and a Disgraced Bounty Skull on Paradise Spring. Continuing on to Ancient Spire Outpost. It's late, will likely let those messages expire when I log out.
Chickens delivered to Mildred around midnight on the 4th. White chickens fetch 223g and 205g, red speckled chickens fetch 459g and 332g. Crate of fine sugar from the Blessing of Athena returns 134g. Spent 80g to buy new voyage from the Merchant Alliance.
Bounty skulls taken to Madame Olwen, fetch 337g and 205g.
So, to sum up, I didn't have much trouble this voyage. No one came close enough to mess with me, and the chickens were fairly easy to find.
cristian1452 and LazzyMe
Second Voyage: Booty Isle Treasure
The map I found points to Booty Isle. Assuming I don't get ganked on the way there, it should be a simple matter to go and dig up some stuff. Off I go...
Stupid skeletons on Thieves' Haven take potshots at me. They're pretty good shots, too. One must've hit me, because I have a hole in my starboard side now.
Arrived at Booty Isle just before dark. Coast is clear. Let's see what kind of booty this place is hiding.
Booty Isle should be renamed "Skeleton Isle." Damn place is crawling with them, and every chest I dig up brings more. And they kill me, too. Twice. Jerks. Certainly makes a case for doing this crap with a friend.
Hard Won, Only Died Twice!
While aboard the Ferry of the Damned, I ran into two gentlemen: cristian1452 and LazzyMe. cristian1452 proclaimed that "A Pirate vanquished me!" before running off with his friend Lazzy.
After all that abuse, what did I get? A Captain's Chest, two Seafarer's Chests, and two Castaway's Chests. Heading to Plunder Outpost to sell this crap and log out.
Harry the Hoarder gives me 604g for the Captain's Chest. Are you kidding? The others fetch 238g, 210g (for the Seafarer's Chests) and 89g and 99g (for the Castaway's Chests). Also earned the Hoarder of the Castaway's Gold commendation, which brought me up to 23 reputation with the Gold Hoarders. I guess I shouldn't complain.
That's all for tonight. Even I need my sleep. Avast!
My little girl seems to attract griefers for some reason. It probably comes down to being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I can't help but sympathize with her. She doesn't bring this stuff on herself in any way, it just happens.
