Stream Sniping Defense Options

@inspektirgadget There is an advantage in seeing what you are doing. If you go to board and they know it, they will veer away long before you get there. If they know where you may fire from, that is an advantage. It is cheating and, despite what @Wodyo says, streamers shouldn’t have to accept cheating just because they are streaming - the notion is ridiculous.

@inspektirgadget maybe have an option to toggle the gamer tags. So you could still have the encounters you’re talking about. The only other solution to stream sniping in my opinion would be to create a time buffer inbetween in game time and what the viewers see in the streams. A lot of people will “set sail” the same time as a streamer hoping to get on the same server.

Only way I see to stop stream sniping is having an option for the streamer to remove all gt for them on the server as most stream sniping happens by people msging another crew the streamer has bumped into. This is how wejoww has managed to get into rares last few streams and I feel is the only reason it's been brought to rares attention enough for them to do anything about it let alone make almost an entire dev update about it

Even changing tos won't stop it cause some people would use alternate accounts or just not care

@wodyo

U just dont want to understand.

This stream snipe has nothing to do with the streamer itself.
Its about the crews he come across. People harras or join the enemy crews. Thats where the problem is. How is a streamer going to deal with a Stream Sniper, sniping an enemy ship in his stream?

If i stream its my decision to show my location, Where i hide loot etc etc. So yes it comes with the territory.

But the enemy ship has NO influence on this. And that ship is getting sniped.

If u sail and put reaper mark on its your choice to show yourself on the map. Would u like me as an enemy putting the reaper flag on your ship without your decision to actually do that?

If i stream myself shopping in a mall. Yes people can come up 2 me askin me if im that one stream guy and ask for autograph than yes it's with the territory.
Now image that u are walking on the background and people start harrasing u because they saw u in my stream. Wodyo why u buying these cloths? Can we be friends so i can come to shoppingmall to see what the streamer buys first hand. Would u like that?

@wodyo said in Stream Sniping Defense Options:

@bran-the-ent said in Stream Sniping Defense Options:

@inspektirgadget There is an advantage in seeing what you are doing. If you go to board and they know it, they will veer away long before you get there. If they know where you may fire from, that is an advantage. It is cheating and, despite what @Wodyo says, streamers shouldn’t have to accept cheating just because they are streaming - the notion is ridiculous.

It's no more "cheating" than playing on a split screen. If you don't want someone to "cheat" by looking at your screen, then stop broadcasting it to them. It's really that simple. "Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. "

Imagine you're playing SoT and a popular streamer rolls up on you. Next thing you know you're getting bombarded with messages and friend request. This is why stream snipping hurts the innocent.

@wodyo said in Stream Sniping Defense Options:

@zormis The innocent have the ability to turn a lot of that garbage off. Don't want random messages? Turn off the notifications.

I shouldn't have to alter my personal gaming experience because of popular streamers, something that is out of my control.

@wodyo Again with an inaccurate analogy. If you play on a split screen, you are sharing a screen - you can see them and they can see you - and you know who is beside you potentially cheating by looking at where you are on the split screen. Believe me, I remember having these conversations playing GoldenEye on N64. It is bad form to cheat by abusing a split screen as well. Again, the argument that simply because one streams, one should have to put up with cheaters is asinine. I am certainly entitled to play the game without dealing with cheaters. Any steps that can be taken to minimize this occurring is welcome. “Don’t stream” is not a solution for dealing with cheaters. It is akin to saying, “Don’t like hackers, don’t develop games. You are putting your game out there and people will hack it - goes with the territory, so... don’t try to solve the problem, just don’t be a game developer.”

@octopus-lime A delay will not minimize stream sniping, particularly in a game like this - set on open seas and with things taking time to complete. Boarding isn’t quick. Maneuvering a ship isn’t as quick as maneuvering a player on the ground or turning in a spaceship. The delay would have to be impractically long to minimize stream sniping in this game. Nor will a delay prevent the issues that Joe brought up in the dev video.

@wodyo Joining someone else's game is also not stream sniping. It's what you do once you're in the game. If you use a stream to find the streamer once in-game, while annoying, that is also not stream sniping. Use the information you gather from watching the stream to get the upper hand - that is stream sniping... and cheating.

In addition to stream sniping, Joe is trying to prevent the harassment of other players who are being harassed simply because their gamertag shows up on someone else's stream. Two different issues they are trying to address. Let's not confuse them.

Stream sniping is typically when a person uses another player’s server and in game location to kill them in PvP, get the upperhand in other gameplay, or just be a tool taunting and harassing them. A streamer mode would hide server names and hide or change player names.

There are no server names in a list to hide with regards to SoT. Should never stream that information in any form at anytime anyway. Players should not be server hopping finding other players quickly enough to make it a worth while attempt that is successful. For it to be a plausible method there would have to be a limited number of servers to cycle through.

That leaves the players name which is usually that person’s gamertag in many games as it is in SoT. A big part of the problem is games these days is they omit in game character names or have a way to turn them off. Because of popularity of PvP the use of gamertags have taken over due to gamer desire for recognition, ego, and game companies catering to the trend. Too many elements of online gaming has become tied for many unintentionally and intentionally to one name.

Just as we should be smart with sharing our information and protecting our identities in real life against those that can misuse it, we need to be doing the same in online gaming. Putting your name and face out there publicly creates greater risk. It is something that should be understood that can come with any form of public recognition and celebrity.

First, if you do not want someone unwanted joining your crew, choose the closed crew option. Rare could implement a streamer mode that hides the player’s gamertag. Then we will have issues when names are necessary such as reporting. Could create a different in game name. That will not help already known streamers or anyone that uses a streamer name matching their XBOX gamertag or other in game name. The issue here is in a name. The solution is how names are used and not used.

@murkrage said in Stream Sniping Defense Options:

@weakdexx Yes, I know HOW it works... but I mean the chances of that happening, how big are they really? How big are the chances of that happening.

I have to be watching your stream, somehow be on the same server and run into you. The chances of you having an open crew are even more slim, because ever since the closed crew option was introduced the amount of open crews have reduced significantly.

You don't need to be on the same server. If they see the gamer tag of who you are with, they can message the heck out of them. It happened to me an my crew once. Had sooo many messages and friend invites because some streamers decided to come at us for some pvp. Many of them bragging how awesome they were and just wanted to either join our crew or take over our ship.

To the OP. As a player, I would love the option to say no, you can NOT show my gamer tag if you are streaming. I am sorry, but I don't want the 100's of messages or friend requests from people just trying to go after the streamer. I am also sorry, but I don't trust that streamers to block my gamer tag, just look at what @WhatToDo94 said above. So it should be each players choice to be able to have their gamer tag blocked. Simple as that!

Just because you have chosen to be a streamer does not mean I want to be streamed. Also I don't think it fair for the streamers to be forced to play on dedicated servers away from the day to day players in the world of SoT.

@bran-the-ent I see your point about what is and is not stream sniping. That is a good point. But I do think that both of those things combine to make for stream sniping.

I think for me, what is more bothersome is, I don't stream, unless it is private for a friend to check out a game, other than that, I have no interest in entertaining the masses. And therefore, I want to play the game without having to get bombarded with messages from people watching someone else's stream.

@wodyo said in Stream Sniping Defense Options:

@zormis The innocent have the ability to turn a lot of that garbage off. Don't want random messages? Turn off the notifications.

I should not be forced to turn of notifications because someone else is streaming and my gamer tag is showing on that stream. I as the player should have the option of allowing my gamer tag to appear or not for any and all streaming.

@nofears-fun Unfortunately, giving players the ability to hide their gamertag will lead to abuse that can't be reported. It will not be possible to report hackers, and truly toxic players. So, I don't think that is a workable solution.

@bran-the-ent You miss what I am saying. Only hide the gamer tag on the stream side of things. The people you are up against can still see that tag. Not sure if this is technically possible. But if it is, it is a good solution.

@nofears-fun I don't see how it's possible for a non-streamer to disable their gamertag in a stream without disabling it in the game. The game doesn't know it is being streamed.

I think that Streamers should, out of respect, disable gamertags (unless they need to report something). The problem is that currently, there is no way to do that without also disabling necessary radial menus.

Microsoft should also allow for more control over who can send you messages and when they can do it. Rare and Microsoft should also consider repeated messages harassment and treat those who engage in such activity accordingly.

@bran-the-ent The one time that we found ourselves against some streamers, we gave them a good fight. We ended up losing the fight in the end. But that was partly because we simply decided we didn't want the messages from all the random peeps out there. Some of those messages were downright disrespectful or even nasty. Reporting all of them would have taken too long and would not solve the immediate need to get the messages to stop. So we basically gave up and let them sink us. Re-spawned, sailed to our next island while watching the streamers reaper to make sure they were out of site, so we could finish our ashen athena. What is sad is we were having fun against the streamers and if we had never known they were streamers we would have enjoyed the encounter soo much more than we did. All because of those none stop friend requests and messages. There needs to be solution to protect my privacy. And yes, I know, game on the internet, but that doesn't mean I should have to give up my privacy for the privilege to play.

@nofears-fun I agree. That's why I think Microsoft should allow for more control over the messaging system. It should be possible to prevent the delivery of unwanted messages from strangers... like a form of "do not disturb" sign.

As pretentious as this may sound (not my intent) how many streamers that constantly play SoT are falling victim to this?
I have a hard time believing it is the majority or even a large portion of them that do. This viewpoint is brought about from my own stream viewing.

I watch a fair few streamers for this title via Twitch and Mixer and not once have i seen this happen to any of them.
Not saying it doesn't happen far from it, in fact it clearly does as Rare have felt the need to address the situation.
Although from what i can tell this only seems to be happening consistently with the Rare streams i have seen, but alas this is the only stream i have seen meticulously sniped to such a degree.
This really should have been anticipated and planned for from the first day they decided to start streaming in my humble opinion as i am yet to see a developer that live streams content and not have a small portion of the viewer base try an get into game with them.

I do not condone this sort of behavior nor do i participate but i have a real hard time understanding that this is a super huge needs an immediate fix type issue affecting many players overall experiences thus tarnishing the game.

I agree unfortunately this is just another case of who ever crys the loudest.

@ajm123 You can stream snipe if the streamer's gamertag is one you recognize in the server you're on. You can stream snipe if someone already watching the stream contacts you and either gets you to watch the stream or relays information to you (I've witnessed this happen). If the streamer has a reaper flag up, much like fort hopping, you keep hopping until you find the reaper in the location you know the streamer is at. It's possible.

Streamers need to understand that if you broadcast you are streaming you are marking yourself as a reapers chest.

So if they get harrassed, its their own fault.
They know the dangers of the seas, if they wanna stay incognito on the waves then play incognito.