Vanishing Loot: It's a Feature, not a Bug!

Chicken Isle looks like a chicken leg.

Plunder Outpost spawn-in.

Starting/Ending Rep - GH 23/23, OS 20/20, MA 20/20

Starting/Ending Gold: 27,946/29,873
Gold Earned: 1,927g

First Voyage: For the Gold Hoarders

"A prize amassed by the prominent Shantyroinen," consists of a map of Chicken Isle with two Xs marking dig spots. Headed to Chicken Isle with no issues, anchored and disembarked. Located dig spots easily, recovering two Marauder's Chests (worth 294g and 490g respectively).

Spot shipwreck SE of Chicken Isle with galleon in distance beyond it. Wait to see where galleon goes, apparently to Plunder Outpost.

Stopped at wreck. About to dive but a sloop showed up. Left the area to avoid a scuffle, sloop more interested in wreck and didn't pursue.

Going to Ancient Spire Outpost to sell stuff. Spot another shipwreck en route. Galleon in distance heading away. Maybe God likes me after all.

Unexplored wrecks aren't worth a fight.

The Wreck of the Feared Dragon, recover villainous bounty skull (n/a), crate of rare tea (362g), two Seafarer's Chests (157g and 192g). Heading to port.

Arrive at Ancient Spire Outpost. Villainous Bounty Skull vanished. Weird! Sell other items. Decided to return to area of wreck to see if the skull fell through my hull. Skull not there, wreck gone. Stupid bug. Considered someone might have stolen it, but I saw no one anywhere near the shipwreck. If there had been someone, I'm sure they would've killed me.

This isn't the first time I've had stuff fall through the deck. I imagine I might've put it too close to the rail, but I specifically remember seeing it there before I dove back into the water. Probably would've increased this voyage's take by at least 1,000g, but whatever. My 13 year-old boy sarcastically comments, "That's why this game is still in beta." What a comedian. Going to be a bit more meticulous about where I drop this stuff from now on.

Drop anchor at nearby Crooks Hollow for bio break. Take a stroll on island, find Seafarers Chest (247g) washed up on shore. Spotted sloop approaching island, hightailed it away. Was not spotted, no pursuit. Returning to Ancient Spire Outpost.

En route to Ancient Spire, spot shipwreck SE of outpost. Checking it out.

Coast clear, diving. Wreck of the Liar's Fortune. Find Disgraced Bounty Skull (265g) and hungry shark (worthless). Heading back to Ancient Spire. Another sloop to port, anchored near island, no pursuit.

Sold found goods, bought new Gold Hoarder voyage from Herbert for 80g.

All for now. Avast!

Today's Voyage

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!

Captain's Log: Introduction

So I'm playing this Sea of Thieves game, and I've enjoyed it (for the most part) so far. The PvP aspect isn't really my cup of tea, so I tend to avoid people as best as I can. That said, it seems like the majority of the people playing the game are intent on destroying other players and sinking their ships, despite the fact that it accomplishes nothing and wins them no awards.

I can understand trying to steal other people's stuff, sure. The game has the word "Thieves" in the title, right? But I suppose when you give someone a hammer, everything (including my ship, parked off a remote island, with no one aboard) looks like a nail to them. I dub those people dweebs, and this blog is (at least indirectly) about them.

I've had a couple of what I might call normal interactions with folks. In one instance, some guy (who had apparently just spawned at an outpost) came to me and asked if I knew where he could find some cannonballs. I told him he was free to take any of the ones I had stored on my ship, but he was too conscientious to do so. Heck, I rarely use my cannons at all unless I'm shelling skeletons on the beach.

The second normal interaction was with a bloke who was selling his stuff at an outpost. We came across one another and paused. He pulled out his blunderbuss but didn't immediately shoot me dead (a rarity). In response, I waved. He waved back, then we both went back to ferrying treasure from our ships to the island.

See? Civilized behavior.

Conversely, there was a day early on in my sailing career when I pulled into an outpost. Another ship was docked nearby. Before I could even get off my ship, someone had boarded it and emptied a blunderbuss into my face. Instant death.

When I respawned, the guy (still on my boat, spawn-camping) shot me dead. And again after that. He had his microphone on and was singing (in a dorky teenage voice) "I believe I can fly. I believe I can touch the sky. Think about it every night and day..." as he gunned me down in cold blood aboard my own vessel.

But what I really love is when someone aboard a ship sees me and gives chase, cannons blazing. I tend to sell my booty regularly, so it's rare for me to have more than one valuable item (skull or chest) aboard my ship unless I've gotten particularly lucky. It still amazes me, though, how much time they'll spend trying to sink me, especially when I've got either nothing worth stealing or something incredibly meager (such as a crate of fine sugar) aboard.

In those cases, I actually feel somewhat accomplished if I can keep them busy chasing me for a good long while. They're wasting their time while I'm actually (silently) trolling them.

So that, in a somewhat larger nutshell than I intended it to be, is what this blog is about. I'll likely update it as I play, and if I can get footage or pictures of the various dweebs that haunt the shipping lanes, I'll post it here with an account of their dweeby behavior.

And before you say, "Wait a moment! If you play Sea of Thieves, you're agreeing to be chased down, attacked, spawn-camped, and griefed by said dweebs." And you'd be correct on that account, and I am in no way complaining about the game. I'm merely documenting the amazing behavior of society's best and brightest video gamers.

Like as not I'll post a few entries and then get distracted and stop entirely. If so, enjoy what comes along, conscious of the fact that every post you read could very well be my last.